Explosive Weekend in Belize’s Sporting Disciplines

Good evening and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. From an entertainment point of view, the Belize City Defenders spared no expense in giving fans a show on Friday night inside the Belize City Civic Center. A thirty-foot monitor was hoisted inside the venue for the first time.  Fans were able to view replays and see themselves. But, everyone was there to watch the game between the Belize City Defenders and the Dangriga Dream Ballers.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Dangriga’s Delvon Henderson over the rim with a hot start to the game. Five minutes left on the clock in the first with Rebels up six points to four, Defenders’ Nigel Jones puts up the ball over three bodies under the rim. The first quarter ended with the Belize City Defenders on top, fifteen to fourteen points. Baller Brandon Rogers over Devin Daly at the start of the second quarter. Daly, on the other end, responds from the three-point line. Up, thirty points to twenty-seven, Henderson makes a basket from deep to give his team their largest lead of the game.

 

 

The first half ended with Dangriga on top, thirty-seven to thirty-six points. Right out the gate in the second, Lorenzo Dillard finds Jones over the rim. Dillard, this time with the three-point shot off the assist from John Kelly Devon Campbell from just under the arch gives his team the largest lead of the game with forty-six to thirty-nine points. Richard Smith, the Third, showing muscle under the rim with this play. The Defenders outscored their opponents by twelve points in the third, maintained their lead in the fourth, and went on to win the game. Here is more from Dillard and Jones.

 

 

 

Lorenzo Dillard, Belize City Defenders

“We finally figured out what we are playing for and that is each other. We went in the locker room, we were down one, we talked. We came together; see what we could do to bounce back and we did just that.”

 

 

 

Nigel Jones, Belize City Defenders

“I feel like tonight they had a couple problems adjusting to the way we switched up in the second half, they tried to go man and when they go man it opened it up for us and that gave me a chance to find the lane to cut and my teammates were able to find me.”

 

 

 

 

Let’s jump into some football action. We continue with our coverage of the William Dawson Peace Cup. Tonight, we bring you highlights from the match between Westlake FC and Kelly Street. Thirteen minutes into the game, Kelly Street’s Francis Andrews sprints ahead of two defenders. The referee does not call an offside. In front of the goal, he fires with his left foot and makes it count. At the twenty-six minute mark, West Lake’s Dylan Jones beats three defenders inside the penalty box to put his team on the scoreboard. Ten minutes into the second half, Kelly Street’s goalkeeper collided into one of his opponents’ knee. He fought to maintain consciousness on the ground and left the field with an injury to the face. West Lake went on to seal another  victory, with a pass all the way from midfield that landed in front of the goal for the finishing touch.

 

In cycling, Derrick Chavarria was crowned the champion of the 2024 Annual DigiWallet Valentine Tour.  In the Individual time trial on Friday night, Derrick Chavarria topped the scoreboard in the Men’s Elite category, finishing the two-mile ride with a time of three minutes and fifty-seven seconds. In the second leg of the tour, riders raced from Belize City to Dangriga through the Coastal Road, for seventy-three miles. Chavarria was among a large group of riders that was the first to make it across the finish line. And on Sunday, the circuit race in Santa Elena Town ended with a photo finish between Chavarria and Oscar Quiroz. Chavarria was declared the champion with his final times for all three stages combined.

 

Well Folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.