The Mantarrayas de La Paz (English: ''La Paz Manta Rays'') are a Mexican professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...

. The Mantarrayas are members of the

Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico The Pacific Coast Basketball Circuit ( or CIBACOPA), officially known as the Liga Chevron CIBACOPA for sponsorship reasons, is a ten team basketball league based in Northwestern Mexico. The matches take place from March to June. History A leag ...

(CIBACOPA) and play their games in the Arena La Paz. They were one of three professional sports teams in Baja California Sur to start playing in 2019, along with La Paz F.C. in the

Liga Premier de México Liga Premier is a professional association football league in Mexico and the third level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Segunda División de México (1950–2017). It has 52 participating clubs, divided into two division ...

and in the

Liga Norte de México The Liga Norte de México (''LNM'') (English: ''Northern League of México'') is a professional baseball minor league based in northwest Mexico, with seven teams in the states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. Formerly known as ...

History

The Lobos Marinos de La Paz (English: ''La Paz Sea Lions'') represented the city in the original incarnation of the CIBACOPA in the 1980s and 90s. When the league was revived in 2001, they were one of the eight founding members. However, the team folded after only a few seasons due to financial difficulties. In March 2017, the previous season's CIBACOPA champions, Náuticos de Mazatlán, played an exhibition game in La Paz against a local team as part of their Gira del Campeón (''Champion's Tour''). The game took place at the Manuel Gómez Jiménez court, former home of the Lobos Marinos, with the Náuticos winning 93–56. On 11 September 2018,

governor Carlos Mendoza Davis announced the return of CIBACOPA basketball to La Paz during the celebration of the re-inauguration of the Arena La Paz. The Mantarrayas name and corresponding logo was revealed during a press conference in January 2019 and Argentine coach Juan José Pidal was announced as the team's first head coach heading into the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. They selected Mexico national team player

Irwin Ávalos Irwin Ávalos Bonilla (born 13 June 1991) is a Mexican basketball player for Plateros de Fresnillo and the Mexico national team. Professional career Ávalos returned to his hometown and joined the Águilas Doradas de Durango ahead of the 2017 ...

with the first overall pick in the 2019 draft. The Mantarrayas played their first official game on 28 March 2019, losing 90–86 to the

Pioneros de Los Mochis Pioneros de Los Mochis (English: ''Los Mochis Pioneers'') are a Mexican professional basketball team based in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. The Pioneros de Los Mochis are members of the CIBACOPA and play their games in the Centro de Usos Múltiples de Los ...

in their home opener. They achieved their first ever victory the following night, beating the Pioneros 98–92 to even up the series. The team finished the regular season in fifth place with an 18–16 record. Ávalos, Antonio Peña and Tyrone White were named All-Stars. In the first round of the playoffs, the Mantarrayas defeated the

Caballeros de Culiacán Caballeros de Culiacán (Culiacán Knights) is a professional basketball club based in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. The team currently plays in the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico ( CIBACOPA). In the past the team played in the Lig ...

four games to one. They then beat the

Halcones de Ciudad Obregón The Halcones de Ciudad Obregón (English: ''Ciudad Obregón Falcons'') are a Mexican professional basketball team based in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. The Halcones are members of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA) and play ...

in a seven-game semifinal series, sealing their trip to the finals with a 105–92 victory in game 7, led by with 26 points. Facing the Rayos de Hermosillo led by

Jeremy Hollowell Jeremy Hollowell (born February 25, 1994) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi. Hollowell played college basketball for the Georgia State Pant ...

in the finals, the Mantarrayas initially went up 3–2 in the series after Lamonte posted a near

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

of 34 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in their 78–76 game 5 victory. However they suffered a humiliating 99–59 defeat in game 6 where Hollowell registered 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, before falling 90–77 in game 7 to finish as league runner-ups in their debut season. The Mantarrayas hired Uruguayan coach Federico Camiña ahead of the 2020 season. The team opened the year with a 88–82 loss to the

Tijuana Zonkeys The Zonkeys de Tijuana are a Mexican professional basketball team based in Tijuana, Baja California. The Zonkeys compete in the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA). The team plays its home games at Auditorio Zonkeys. The Zo ...

on 12 March, and played only a handful of games before the season was interrupted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico The COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to hav ...

. The Mantarrayas announced that the team would not participate in the 2022 season due to the continued risk of COVID-19. They subsequently opted out of the 2023 season as well.

Notable players

Head coaches

* Juan José Pidal (2019) * Federico Camiña (2020)

Honours

Domestic competitions

** Runners-up (1):

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

Team profile
at Latinbasket.com
Team profile
at

RealGM RealGM.com is a sports website created in 2000. The site was originally a basketball site, but has since expanded its scope to provide information about American football, baseball, ice hockey and soccer. According to Alexa, the site ranked in th ...

{{CIBACOPA Basketball teams in Mexico Sports clubs and teams in Baja California Sur La Paz, Baja California Sur Basketball teams established in 2018 2018 establishments in Mexico