Belize Dominates in Multiple Sporting Disciplines

Good evening, sports fans, and welcome to another exciting edition of Sports Monday. I’m Paul Lopez, bringing you the latest action from courts, fields, and stadiums across the country. We’re tipping things off out west in San Ignacio, where the weekend’s spotlight was on the Belize Elite Basketball League. The Cayo Western Ballers were back on their home court, hosting the Belize City Thunderbolts, just days after handing them a tough loss at the Civic Center. Could the Thunderbolts bounce back, or would the Ballers keep the momentum rolling? Let’s dive into the highlights.

 

Four minutes in, the Thunderbolts have a nine-point lead, fourteen to five, as Flowers finds Jamie Carbajal who powered his way in for the layup. Check this play out shortly after, ball to Dennis Flowers the third. He sees Jaheim Ciego. A two versus one situation and Ciego dunks off the alley hoop. The first quarter ended with the Thunderbolts on top, twenty-nine to twenty-one points. Second quarter action, Victor “Vito” Evans, drives, spins, jumps and makes the shot. What a beauty. Thunderbolts up by eleven. Darnell Oden on the other end, immediately after, sizing up Charles Garcia and makes the jump shot to cut down the lead.

 

Let’s fast-forward to the last few minutes in the third quarter. All through the quarter, the Thunderbolts were able to maintain a lead, going up by eight points in a few instances. Here they’re only up by two points after a three from Ciego. Evans drives and dishes off to a wide open Clency “Cope” Lopez at the three point-line. Lead extends to five points. On the other end, Alrik Nicolas scores a three-pointer to bring the lead back to two. Nicolas again, off the assist from Ciego, this time to take the lead. But that quarter still ended with Thunderbolts up by two points, sixty-seven to sixty-five. The fourth quarter was where the Thunderbolts truly turned up the heat. With this clutch shot from Mathew Young, they stretched their lead to seventeen points. The Cayo Western Ballers weren’t going down without a fight, though, they clawed their way back to within four points with just twenty-three seconds left on the clock. But in the end, it was the Thunderbolts who sealed the deal, taking the win 87 to 81.

Now, from the hardwood in San Ignacio to the volleyball court in El Salvador, Belize’s National Senior Men’s Volleyball Team had a busy weekend at the Men’s Final Four Championship. They kicked things off strong with a 3–1 victory over the host team, El Salvador. Saturday brought a nail-biter against Guatemala that went the full five sets, but Belize came up just short. Still, they bounced back on Sunday with a win over Nicaragua to bring home the silver medal. Big congratulations to Team Belize!

 

And volleyball fans, the action isn’t over yet. This weekend, all eyes turn to the Belize City Civic Center as Belize gets ready to host the Under-23 Women’s Central American Volleyball Championship. We caught up with Belize Volleyball Association President Allan Sharp to hear what fans can expect from this highly anticipated event.

 

Allan Sharp, President, Belize Volleyball Association

“Last year our girls pulled gold. It is the first time ever for Belize to pull gold and that is the U-21. For the most part it is the same girls. But we have been able to strengthen a little bit, because it is the U-23, one year later. So we have added some big guns to the team. The girls in the U.S. have returned. Five teams will be here, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize. It starts Sunday. There are two matches per day.”

 

Team Belize is set to play on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Game time is at seven thirty p.m. each day.

 

Now, shifting gears from volleyball to cycling, three young Belizean athletes made waves in the U.S. over the weekend at the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix. Devyn Major, Keith Enwright, and Ahmaad Cherrington took on the Category Four race, and they didn’t just show up, they showed out! Major sprinted to a first-place finish, Enwright followed right behind in second, and Cherrington rounded out the top ten in seventh. Big congratulations to these rising stars repping the Jewel with pride.

 

And finally, we head back home to the pitch for the William Dawson Peace Cup, where the mission is unity through sports. Saturday’s showdown between Graveyard FC and Survivors FC was a thriller. Three goals lit up the first half, with Survivors taking a slim lead. Graveyard pushed hard in the second half, but it was Survivors’ Tyrique Ciego who sealed the deal with a late goal, his second of the match, giving his team the win. Well Folks, that is all we have for you in this week’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.