Tijuana Zonkeys: “Burro-Zebras” A Win Away From Third CIBACOPA Title
Credit: EVT Sports
Tijuana, Mexico
The Tijuana Zonkeys will be returning home to play the sixth game of the 2018 CIBACOPA final against Halcones de Obregon this Thursday, July 19.
The border city side has a 3-2 lead in the series and is now only a win away from obtaining their third CIBACOPA title in franchise History.
The last titles came back-to-back from 2014-2015 and some players currently on the squad like Trayvon Lathan and Luis Ramirez played a role in those championships.
James Penny, the head coach of the team, also was part of those teams as a player and knows the importance of bringing another title to the border city. The Zonkeys won the first two games of the final series at the Auditorio Municipal de Tijuana and then struggled a bit on the road.
The Striped Donkeys lost the first two games in Sonora, but did go on to win Game 5 by a score of 99-80. The defensive aspect of the border city side has been vital against Obregon so far as it has stepped up immensely. That was seen in the first two games in Tijuana, where the Zonkeys held Halcones to just 66 points in Game 1 and 71 points in Game 2. This reemerged in Game 5 where James Penny’s team held the home team to just 13 points in the third quarter, which ended up making a significant impact on the final score.
Los Burro-Zebras have a very solid team that should be able to take the league title, especially with the one-game lead. San Diego native Karim Rodriguez has been one of the recent standouts as he led Tijuana in points in two of the three games in Sonora. In Game 5, Rodriguez scored 28 points and also had six rebounds along with five assists. Other important players recently include Mychal Ammons and Leon Gibson, who have helped with their physicality and defensive prowess.
Team captain Trayvon Lathan has also helped in all aspects of the game and also provided his immense leadership to the table as well. Game 6 should be very intense at the Auditorio Municipal de Tijuana as the Zonkeys can bring another championship to the city of Tijuana. Obregon will not go down with a fight and this should make for a spectacle on Thursday night.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.