Action Pack Sports Weekend in Football, Basketball and Cycling  

Good evening, sports fans! Welcome to another exciting edition of Sports Monday. I’m your host, Paul Lopez. Tonight, we’re diving straight into the action at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex, the heart of the Belize District Football Association’s First Division Opening Season for 2024-2025. We’ve got a thrilling season ahead with thirty-two games lined up, taking us all the way to mid-January 2025. We’ll be bringing you coverage of most, if not all, of the eight teams battling it out on the field.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Tonight, we’ve got highlights from the second match of Saturday afternoon, featuring Caesar Ridge FC in their striking black and white jerseys, going head-to-head with Tut Bay FC, who sported green and black. Throw in for Tut Bay in the eighth minute. The ball intercepted by number six for Caesar Ridge, he passes it off down the field. It gets a bit physical there for him. Number seventeen in hot pursuit inside the penalty box. He was able to get the ball in front of the goal. Right place, right time for Antwane Baptist who gave Caesar Ridge a one-to-nothing lead. Here in the thirty-fourth minute, there was a goal kick for Caesar Ridge. Excellent header from Tut Bay to change direction. Tut Bay’s strikers in position, hunting the ball. A high kick sent the ball flying over the defensive line. Calvin Thurton in hot pursuit. He is intercepted but gets a second chance and makes good on it. The game is tied at one a piece.

 

The first half ended with each team scoring one goal. But, early in the second half, Tut Bay FC gains possession. A kick to the goal goes off target, but Zebolon Leslie came sprinting in from the left wing and launched a bullet towards goal. That’s two goals for Tut Bay FC. Only four minutes later, Tut Bay once again in possession. Caesar Ridge’s defenders were outnumbered, as Leslie got the pass and was able to make space at the top of the penalty box. He launched another rocket towards the goal and that counts. Tut Bay has the lead with three goals to their opponents one goal. The referee called a handball inside the penalty box against Tut Bay sixty-five minutes into the game. Caesar Ridge’s Ken Galvez took the penalty kick and scored. Tut Bay scored the game’s final goal right before the final whistle was blown, putting this game to rest, and as goal scorer Esmond Sanker signaled, putting Caesar Ridge FC to bed for the evening.

 

And so, as things heat up with that first division tournament, high schoolers are facing off in the Belize District Basketball Tournament to decide which team will represent this region in National High School Basketball Championship. Saint John’s College played against Sadie Vernon High School in this one. SJC’s Thompson with the steal and he makes it to the other end for the layup. Augustine for Sadie Vernon wide open from the three-point line and he banks the shot. SJC’s Daniel Musa gets the pass, drives and pulls up. That’s good.

 

The first quarter finished eight to seven points in favor of SJC. And, it was mostly downhill from there for Sadie Vernon. They scored one point in the second quarter and only two points in the third, while SJC was able to score eighteen points in those two quarters combined. Sadie Vernon came back in the fourth quarter with a last-minute dash to the finish line, outscoring SJC by two points, with thirteen points. But, ultimately it was not enough to bring down SJC, led by captain Daniel Musa. Both Thompson and Musa led the game in points scored.

 

And now for some more football action, we bring you our weekly coverage of the Anthony Mahler Under-Thirteen Mundialito Tournament. We covered two games. The first was between Reality Youths and Tut Bay FC. After three periods of solid defending and well-executed offensive plays on both ends, neither team was able to score against the other. And so, this one ended nil, nil. In the second match, Berger United took on Sampson Brown. Berger United made their debut earlier this year with a bang and they are back to see if they got what it takes to win it all.  In this one, Breylin Middleton wasted no time, scoring the first goal for Berger in the third minute. Middleton again, four minutes later, goes in to recover the ball and touches it gently into the goal. Good football knowledge on display for such a young player.

 

Middleton was not quite done just yet. At the eleventh minute, he speeds past a defender while maintaining possession, fires and it goes into the goal. That’s a hat trick for Middleton.  Berger United defeated Sampson/Brown, four goals to zero.

 

And finally, for tonight, here are some highlights from the Women’s Road Race 2024 courtesy Ordonez Bike Shop. This one went from Belize City to Hattieville and back. These cyclists competed in three different categories, Junior, Elite and Over-Thirty-Eight. Nearing mile four, two riders are leading the race, sixteen-year-old Chelsea Gillett and Francine Gigli. They pried open the gap, creating a chase group behind them. Some twenty-six minutes later, the two lead riders saw their lead cut down significantly. Kaya Cattouse went in and picked up the pace to bridge the gap, pulling the chase group behind her. At the Hattieville roundabout, sixteen riders were together in the lead group, headed into Belize City. Kaya Cattouse with the attack at mile thirteen, pumping energy into the lead group of riders. She did not get too far before being reigned in.

 

With the finish line in sight, Gigli is driving the pace, but Kaya Cattouse was right on her. And, with a final burst of energy Cattouse was first to cross the finish line. She secured first place in the elite category. Chelsea Gillett came in first in the junior category. Fiona Humes secured first place in the over-thirty-eight category. Well folks, that is all we have for you in this week’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.