National Cricket Team Defeats Mexico in Argentina

Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. The Central Division High School Basketball Finals were hosted over the weekend inside the Swift Hall. The finals saw both male and female teams battling it out to see who will represent the region in the finals. We begin with highlights from the game between Saint John’s College and Gwen Lizarraga male teams.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Gwen Liz won the tipoff and Thurton immediately goes for the basket. He falls short but draws the foul. Thurton made one of two free throws. On the other end, S.J.C’s captain, Thompson is right there to secure the rebound and make the inside jump shot. Thurton again for Gwen Liz, finds the opening and gets the layup with two defenders on him. And here goes Thurton again on the breakaway. He makes good on the layup and forces a timeout a minute and a half into the game. Right out of the timeout, S.J.C’s Arthurs on top of the three point line, banks it in. But, Thurton continued to score, this one an impressive one-handed maneuver around the defender. Gentle there with a huge corner three for Gwen Liz late in the first quarter. Arthurs from S.J.C responded shortly after with a huge three-pointer to close the first quarter.

 

Gwen Lizarraga High School led at the end of the first with thirteen points to S.J.C’s ten points. By the end of the first half, Gwen Lizarraga’s points ballooned to twenty-five, while S.J.C had fifteen points. Thurton scored fifteen of Gwen Liz twenty-five points in the first half. The third quarter was a low-scoring period, with both teams only able to put up six points each. But that kept Gwen Liz in the lead, ahead of a fourth and final quarter for all the marbles. Missed three-point shot from Gentle but Morgan is inside for the cleanup. He shows his strength.  On the other end, Arthurs spots the opening around the defenders and finds himself alone inside, however, he missed the open layup. Captain Thompson ends up with the ball, he goes in and takes a hard foul.

 

Ultimately, Gwen Lizarraga High School Male Team won the match with forty-five points to S.J.C’s thirty-three points. Gwen Liz is headed to the national tournament to represent the central region.  The Central Region Female Finals saw Gwen Lizarraga High School take on Wesley High School. This one turned out to be a low scoring game. in the first quarter, Gwen Liz scored one point, while Wesley scored six. In the second quarter, both teams scored six points. At the end of the first half, Gwen Liz had seven points and Wesley had twelve points. At the end of the third quarter, Gwen Liz added four points to their score, while Wesley added seven points. In the end, the match finished with Wesley High School securing the ticket to the national tournament with twenty-six points. Gwen Lizarraga fell with twelve points.

 

And from basketball locally, we take you to Buenos Aires, Argentina where the Belize National Cricket Team is currently competing in the World Cup T20 Qualifiers. They have played three of the eight matches scheduled for the tournament. They defeated Mexico but fell to host country Argentina and Cayman Islands. We spoke with Doctor Roy Young, the Manager of the National Cricket team who is currently with the delegation in Argentina.

 

On the Phone: Dr. Roy Young, Manager, National Cricket Team

“We played three games. We played a game immediately after we arrived. We played against Mexico, we beat them. The following day we played against Argentina. That was a close, very close game, everybody was so excited about that game. That would have been really great for us, defeating the host country. But we lost in the last over of the game by five runs. And we lost yesterday to Cayman. That was not a close game. Today is our rest day. Tomorrow, we start off again with a new set of games. So, all the teams are resting today. Tomorrow, we take on the Bahamas. We are hopeful of winning that game and if we win that we will be in a very good standing to place in the competition.”

 

Doctor Young sent his heartfelt gratitude to Belizeans at home and abroad who are throwing their support behind the team.

 

And finally, for tonight, we bring you highlights from this weekend’s Belize District First Division Football matchup between Caesar Ridge F.C. and Lake I F.C. Here is how this one played out. Twenty-one minutes into the match, Lake Independence F.C.’s Tom Moguel fired from inside the penalty box and into the goal. Moguel with the first goal of the match. At the twenty-eight minutes, the referee called a foul against Caesar Ridge inside the penalty box. Caesar Ridge players were certainly not happy with that call, but ultimately Tom Moguel took the penalty shot and scored his second goal of the match.  In the thirty-ninth minute, Raheem Eagan finds himself with an open shot towards goal inside the penalty box. He launches and that counts. Ultimately, Lake Independence won the match with five goals. Tom Moguel scored three of the five, securing a hat trick. Caesar Ridge F.C. fell with three goals. Well folks that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.