Matienzo: A Historic Moment in the U17 Federal League Final

On Domingo Zipoli Street at 1943, in the Villa Cabrera neighborhood, Matienzo grows. The Lieutenant Benjamín Matienzo club. Founded on June 20, 1944, the institution does not stop growing, on the field and outside. From that open-air court, with the red mosaic floor (with one of the slippery areas), passing through the shed, to today, with a first-class parquet, auxiliary court and its own gym for its players, and even with foldable stands.

In “la Mata” they enjoy a historic moment. The work pays off. Matienzo qualified for the final phase of the U17 Federal Training League. After a long journey, which began in the Provincial of the category, the Villa Cabrera team entered among the four best in the country, which between September 29 and 30 and October 1, will define the champion.

Matienzo, the neighborhood club that trains players, will have three rivals that are playing in the National League: Ferro y Obras Sanitarias, from Capital Federal, and Regatas Corrientes.

Bautista Tellería, one of the standouts in Matienzo, who qualified for the Final 4 of the U17 Federal League. (@AmeghinoOficial)

The Argentine Confederation (CAB) has yet to confirm the presence of Obras as the best second classified after the file that opened due to the embarrassing match that Ameghino de Villa María won against Bochas de Colonia Caroya by 119-90 (the 29 points advantage that needed). After the investigation opened by the CAB, the Villamariense team got out of the dispute for the final home run.

Oblivious to everything, Matienzo had already secured the “1” in the home run organized by Ameghino. He reached the definition undefeated, with 10 victories in the federal tournament, six of them playing away.

The venue for the Final 4 is not defined, and in Matienzo they will fight to bring it to Córdoba, according to its president José “Nito” Trezza.

“This is a dream, it is incredible that we are playing against three clubs from the National League. “I think it’s epic,” “la Mata” coach Federico García remarked to Mundo D.

“70 percent of this team was champion last year in the Promotional (second category) of the Cordoba Association. In one year the growth of the boys was notable,” added García, 50 years old and who arrived at the Villa Cabrera club in 2017.

“It is a great incentive for all the kids in the club, a motivation. You see that from the Promo we reached a national tournament. It is a huge satisfaction,” said García, who has Facundo Sucatzky, Jeremías Biagetti and Nicolás Carpene as assistants, plus Francisco Diberti as physical trainer.

Federico García, coach of a historic Matienzo that will define the title in the U17 Federal League. (Matienzo Press)

“It helps us that the local championship is very strong, when you leave Córdoba to play you have an advantage. Córdoba has one of the best basketball in the country,” explained the Matienzo coach.

Players with projection in Matienzo

Federico García highlighted “the greatest virtue is the team. He defends very, very well, he is aggressive, he looks for games, he presses all over the field. And we have a lot of scoring power. He has no stars, beyond the different players, they are supportive and get along well with their teammates.”

In any case, Matienzo has very good players. The best on the team, and one of the most outstanding in the tournament, is Jorge Díaz Jiménez.

The chacoño is the base. Trained at Club Atlético Corzuela in his province, he arrived in Matienzo this year (after a short stay in 2022 in Barrio Maipú), arousing interest from at least four clubs in the National League.

Some are encouraged to compare Díaz Jiménez with the playing days of Lucas Victoriano, the current Instituto coach in the National League.

He is supported by Bautista Tellería, a guard who can also play as a point guard, fast and with scoring power from Pampa.

And Octavio Zabala joins us, a 2.02 meter pivot who started playing basketball two years ago.

Díaz Jiménez, Tellería and Zabala are under monitoring by the CAB.

Matienzo also has Alan Hateluk, a wild card player on the team, who can play in all positions, Thomas Aragón, a forward with an outside goal, a rebounder, “he loves to do the dirty work,” highlights the coach. And Mariano Marín, a “3” with a good outside shot who is the captain of “la Mata”.

Matienzo’s path in the U17 Federal League

Matienzo lost the final of the Cordobesa U17 League against Ameghino de Villa María, since then, he is undefeated in the Federal Formative League of the category.

The path at the national level began with two wins in the series against Carlos Paz’s tough Bolívar. They won 87-84 and 84-73 for the West Region. They continued with two victories in the key against Montmartre de Catamarca (117-50 and 110-55).

It was time for the home runs. In Group D, playing in La Banda (Santiago del Estero), with Matienzo’s triumphs against Estudiantes de Tucumán 108-67, Sporting Estrella de San Juan 117-72 and against the local Olympic team (National League club) 105- 55.

The Villa Cabrera club qualified for the Final 4 in Villa María last weekend. Matienzo scored the blow against local Ameghino 90-67. The victory was almost the ticket to the final home run, in addition to revenge for the loss in the final of the Cordobesa League. They followed up with a 90-80 victory over Bochas Sport de Colonia Caroya and completed their defeat on the final day by beating Olympic de La Banda 81-68.

Regatas Corrientes reaches the final after the venue of Gualeguaychú, in Group G, Ferro won Comodoro Rivadavia’s home run (Group I) and Obras comes in as best second.

“For us it will be a very big challenge to play in the Final 4. It is an honor to be there, we are a neighborhood club for which everything costs a lot, and we will face clubs with a great track record in national basketball. It is a responsibility and a challenge,” said García.

“It is a beautiful club, the leadership, with Nito (Trezza, the president) at the helm, put in many hours, work hard, everything with maximum effort so that we do not lack anything. It’s tremendous, it’s a club that’s always going up,” the coach concluded with pure enthusiasm, the same as all of Matienzo.

2023-09-19 20:25:33
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