Belize Participates in U-17 Women’s Volleyball Tournament

Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. Belize is gearing up to shine on the international stage once more in volleyball. A group of under-seventeen female volleyball players travelled to Managua, Nicaragua to compete in the inaugural Under-Seventeen Women’s Central American Volleyball Championship. A total of six countries will be competing in the tournament. Belize plays its first match on Tuesday afternoon against Costa Rica. We spoke with Allan Sharp, the President of the Belize Volleyball Association ahead of the games.

 

Allan Sharp, President, Belize Volleyball Association

“Before they use to have under twenty-one, under-nineteen for male and for female under-twenty and under-eighteen. But the FIBE changed everything to be the same, so it is under-twenty-one, under-nineteen and under-seventeen. So, the under-seventeen carries a similar cutoff age to what use to be the under-eighteen prior. But this is the first under-seventeen competition that the region is having.”

 

Paul Lopez

“And of course, the association and the girls couldn’t pass up this opportunity to compete.”

 

Allan Sharp

“Not at all. We have a total of eight indoor competitions at the internation level to compete in this year. This is the fifth or sixth one. We still have two more. We try to compete, because this is part of the development, a part of preparing the girls and the players to play at the next level as we keep growing. We play against archrival Costa Rica, first game tomorrow at one thirty and then the following day we play Guatemala, another powerhouse. Then after that we play the host Nicaragua. So, we play what are anticipated to be the top three teams, back-to-back to back, then we finish off with Honduras and El Salvador for the week. Five straight days of playing. I think nobody takes us lightly. Every country gets to choose a match and that is why Nicaragua did not choose us as its first match.  So, they just had to take us how it landed with the formula did is used. They did not choose us first and I don’t think anybody wants to play us first.”

 

The games will be streamed live.  From volleyball we move into some basketball action. The 2024 William Dawson Sprite Basketball Tournament is well underway. In week ten of the tournament a total of eleven games were played. We bring you highlights from two of the matches played on Sunday. The first between Mahogany Heights and Freetown Ballers. Mahogany Heights is in the blue jersey, their opponents, Freetown Ballers, are in the maroon jersey. Mahogany Heights wins the tipoff. Ball to Jerson Grinage. He looks for the pass and turns the ball over. Freetown Ballers made good on the turnover on the other end to start the scoring.

 

Larson Marin with a deep three to put Mahogany Heights on the scoreboard. The first quarter ended with Mahogany Heights on top with seven points. They kept Freetown Ballers at three points in the first quarter. Here in the second quarter, Grinage out to Kendale Clare, jump shot of the screen. Rebound and back to Grinage who passes off to Larson Marin and that’s two points. Mahogany Heights now at nine. On the other end, Russel Humes goes in strong under the rim for the bucket. The second quarter ended with a score of twelve to eight points with Mahogany Heights still on top. Freetown Ballers continued to close the gap as the game progressed.

 

A throw in for Freetown Ballers early in the third quarter. Ball to Matthew Young under rim. He muscles his way up to the rim for the and-one play. Raheim Flowers, down the court, finds Russel Humes under the rim for the beautiful layup. Mahogony Heights’ lead was cut down to one point at the end of the third. The game score was seventeen to sixteen points. Freetown Ballers had their best quarter in the fourth. They went on to score twelve points in a dominant display. Mahogany Heights scored eight points in the final quarter. Ultimately, after losing three quarters, Freetown Ballers won the match. I.G. Ballers also played against Third World Ballers on Sunday.  I.G. Ballers played in the green and white jersey, while Third World Ballers played in light and dark green jersey.

 

An early start for I.G. Ballers with a layup from Augustine Pitterson. Pitterson picks up the turnover and hands the ball off to Jayson Orosco who makes it look easy on the other end. On the other end, Tafaree Sanchez gets the rebound, spins, puts in the ball and draws the foul. He also made the free throw count. Kerdel Tench with the layup to put his team at seven points and gain the lead. The first quarter ended in favor of Third World Ballers with nine points. They held I.G. Ballers down to four points. Glency Coope Lopez with the and-one in the second quarter.

 

Immediately after, on the other end, Orosco went in for the slam dunk over three defenders, a young superstar that also plays for the under-nineteen national team. This one ended in favor of Third World Ballers with thirty-nine points to I.G. Ballers’ thirty points. Well folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.