Tigersharks and Western Ballaz Clash for Glory in High-Stakes BPBL Finals

Good evening, I am Paul Lopez with this week’s installment of Sports Monday. Championship games always bring the energy and this weekend; Belize basketball fans got a show! The inaugural Belize Premier Basketball League finals had the San Pedro Tigersharks and the Cayo Western Ballaz battling it out in a best-of-three series. At stake were bragging rights, the prestigious Jaguar Cup, twenty shiny championship rings, and a cool fifteen thousand dollars in prize money. Talk about high stakes. Let’s take a quick look back at how Friday night’s game one played out. We will fast-forward this one to the fourth and final quarter, the San Pedro Tigersharks up by seven with fifty-three points. Cayo Western Ballaz have forty-six.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Failed attempt from three for Shark’s Jihad Wright, his teammate Tyrel Griffith with the rebound. He passes off to a wide op Devin Daly and the “Minister of Buckets” delivered. Jamell Harris sizes up Griffith, creates some space and gets the two-point jump shot. The Cayo Western Ballaz were able to bring the game to within three with six minutes left on the clock. A beautiful putback from Nicholas, cutting the lead to one. The Sharks took the lead back to three when Arik Nicholas came through with a clutch three pointer to tie the game at sixty a piece with three minutes on the clock. This Devon Campbell layup around Francis Arana gave the Ballaz their first lead of the game with two minutes on the shot clock. The plays that followed saw a massive dunk from Jihad Wright, 3:43 A layup from Brian White and a shot from Daly at the free throw line. The match finished with the Sharks securing the first game victory sixty-five to sixty-two.

 

Game two of the finals was electric. The Belize City Civic Center was packed; twice the fans, twice the energy, and the action on the court did not disappoint. The Sharks’ Jihad Wright absolutely went off, dropping thirty-eight points in thirty-seven minutes. He didn’t just score big, he locked down the Ballaz’ top man, Arik Nicholas, outscoring him by six. And let’s not forget Devin Daly, living up to his nickname ‘Minister of Buckets,’ with twelve points, while Brian White owned the boards with twelve rebounds and eight points of his own.

 

Now, on paper, both teams looked evenly matched, but the Tigersharks controlled the tempo from start to finish, forcing the Ballaz to play catch-up all night. And in the end, the better team took it. San Pedro Tigersharks sealed game two and made history as the league’s very first champions. After the game, we caught up with Finals MVP Jihad Wright, Coach Kirk Burgess, and of course, Devin Daly.

 

Jihad Wright, Finals MVP

“Its been a while, San Pedro fans its been since 2019. We came together, me and Rico talked about it early. We put the right team together, went fifteen and one. It was a great season. Shoutout to everybody. Thanks to the fans. I am tired.”

Kirk Burgess, Head Coach

“I would not say I have nothing to prove, but being that I am coaching for the first time, it is a little edge to show people that you can transition from being a player to going into coaching.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How do you celebrate?”

 

Kirk Burgess

“Trust me, it will be a long celebration. We will celebrate this for a week or two.”

 

Devin Daly, 2025 BPBL Champion

“I missed a few practices. It is an understatement. But this is my first love and politics is in there. But basketball will always be at the forefront of my heart and I am happy this is part of sports, bringing people together in clean entertainment and fun.”

 

The Belize City Council’s Annual half marathon saw one hundred and fifty-five participates this year. Runners competed in three categories, the half marathon, the 5K and the 10K. Here are your winners for those categories.

In the Women’s Half Marathon, Rosa Cruz secured the gold medal. In the Men’s Half Marathon, Leon O’Brien crossed the finish line in first place. Jordan Drayer dominated in the Women’s 10K, while Victor Caliz saw victory in the Men’s 10K. In the final categories, Mirtha Welch walked home with gold in the Women’s 5 K, while Hector Carlos beat out the competition in the Men’s 5K. Well folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.