San Pedro evens hoop series at 1-1
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and we’re privileged to present to you this latest dish of Sports Monday.
The semi-pro basketball finals brought Game II of the three game championship series to La Isla Bonita Saturday where the San Pedro Tigersharks were hoping to tie the series against the Belize Bank Bulldogs.
It’s Jason Stubbs of the bank jumping against Damian Staples of the island at the tip off and we’re underway.
Jason Stubbs makes his presence felt early as he uses strength to go glass for his first two points of the outing.
Stubs looks real good when he raises up in the paint and the financial institution looks solid early.
They call him Tyronne “Joka” Edwards but for the islanders this tre ain’t no laughing matter.
The Tigersharks go the Gregg Rudon for the response and he nails the three from the corner.
The weapon of choice for San Pedro in the first quarter is the three point shot and Densmore Edwards dials home this one. At the end of the opening quarter San Pedro boasts an 18 – 15 lead.
However the home team really blows the game wide open in the second. Edward Broaster, body builder and baller, gets the easy two.
Next is Lloyd Leslie with the breakaway two.
In heavy traffic Damian Staples launches the jumper and gets the friendly bounce.
At the half the San Pedro Tigersharks show a 44 – 25 lead.
In fact at the end of three the San Pedro team is up by 23 points.
However in the final quarter the Bulldogs do make that run that all championships teams must make…Darwin Leslie gets busy for two.
In the middle of this run, you’ll see Serano of the Bulldogs commit an extremely ugly foul on Kevin Siroki which almost leads to all out war.
Order is restored when Damian Staples of the Tigersharks and the ugly fouler Serano are both ejected from the ballgame.
Nevertheless, the Bulldogs run continues – Stubbs stays with the pill to get a hard deuce.
When Stubbs hits this bucket the lead is cut to nine points but this is where the run ends.
Of course the San Pedro fans were never happy with the foul by Serano and they show their displeasure by hurling a coke bottle full of sand on to the court with less that a minute to go.
The referees call the game. The Tigersharks record the 85 – 70 win and the series is tied a one a piece.
The decisive Game III comes up this Friday inside the Civic Center.
By the way we just could not get the game stats from the league but such is life in the tropics.
Gilroy “Press” Cadogan
“What do you think was the turn around for this game win tonight?”
Keith Acosta, San Pedro Tigersharks
“Definitely home court advantage. If you know, our record out here is very impressive and we know that we had to come out tonight and prove to our fans that we deserve a win. So we came out tonight in front of our home crown and just turn it on.”
Turning to the softball scene, the Belize Rural Softball competition continues to garner momentum. Yesterday the Burrell Boom Survivors invaded the St. Paul’s turf for its scheduled match with the St. Paul’s Angels.
The first batter to face the visitors is Leonie Cassasola who tags Valerie Vernon for this single.
Valerie comes up with a strike against Trecia Cassasola but right fielder, Denise Hermin, misses the throw at 2nd which allows Leonie Cassasola to reach 3rd base.
And then Joyce Flowers sacrifices herself to put St. Paul’s on the board. It’s all Valerie Vernon, the pitcher, would give up in the 1st.
The Burrell Boom Survivors come up with the appropriate response in the bottom of the 1st.
Judy Soberanis tags Jacqueline Cassasola but it’s poor fielding that allows the batter to arrive at 2nd base.
Charlee Flores hits this ball back to the pitcher but it’s enough to get Soberanis home and at the end of one we have a 1-1 tie.
In the top of the 2nd Patricia Reyes reaches 1st base with this swing.
Jacqueline Cassasola helps her cause by moving Reyes to 3rd base.
And it’s Pamela Reyes with a legit hit against Vernon that brings Reyes home as St. Paul’s takes a 2-1 lead.
We’re in the 3rd inning when Faye Thompson pops up to 3rd base but Charlee Flores’ throw gets past Denise Gillett at 2nd. Denise Hermin comes up with run #3 for the home side who now leads 3-1.
In the bottom of the 3rd Judy Soberanis should be out, Cassasola bungles the throw, Soberanis reaches 2nd.
In the meantime Sherette Vernon benefits from this Patricia Reyes miscue at 2nd base. Soberanis scores and at the end of 3 it’s a 3-2 score in favour of the home team.
We fast forward to the bottom of the 7th and all St. Paul’s has to do is close out the show but this hit from Katrina Young brings home Denise Gillette to tie the ball game.
Judy Soberanis then steals 3rd.
Sherette Vernon then tags Cassasola for what should have been an easy out. Latash Flowers makes an errant throw – Burrell Boom Survivors picks up the 4-3 big win in an exciting finish as Valerie Vernon records the victory.
In the other match ups on the schedule Maskall Roaring Lions led by Danika Garnett simply overpowered Rancho Dolores Country Rose 20 to 6 as Jerene Smith is tagged with that loss.
Sunrise Lords Bank also got on to the win column with a 19-5 rout of Crooked Tree Fly Catchers.
In the Guinness 9 Ball Billiards Tournament last week’s results show that Mikes hurt River Bottom 6-4; Advance mashed MJ’s8-2. The schedule for this week finds Advance facing MJ’s. Mikes goes up against Advance and River Bottom hooks up with MJ’s.
Checking in on the cycling scene the 3rd Sagitun Banana Classic is set for this Sunday, July 29 featuring both male and female competition. The females ride 55 miles and the males 80 – both races start and finishes inside the Michael Ashcroft Stadium.
Hey folks that’s our show for today. We invite you back same time, same place, next week. Jah over all, I’m James Adderley.
