Playoffs begin in semi-pro hoops
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and we welcome you to this latest edition of Sports Monday. Week six of the Regent Insurance Cup Tournament brought back semi-pro soccer to the M.C.C. Grounds as Kulture Yabra hosted Real Verdes of San Ignacio.
We open with the Belize City team on the attack as Daniel Thomas presses, but we’re not sure if this is a shot or a pass.
This misplay by the Jarbi Alvarez provides Real Verdes with its first good look at goal, only Anthony Gonzales can’t get the pill past Shane Orio.
A minute later, Deon Frazier somehow finds Emory Nunez and his left foot push beats John Brooks to give Yabra an early 1-zip lead. Yabra could go up by two on this beautiful find by Norman “Tilliman” Nunez, but it appears Rayford Anderson does not want to score today.
Nevertheless, the Kulture Yabra team does go up by two when Thomas centres to Deon Frazier, who heads it into the net at the twenty-fifth minute and it’s a lead they would take into intermission.
Five minutes into second half, Rayford Anderson changes his mind and decided he wants to score today, so he smashes the ball past Brooks to give Yabra a 3-zip lead.
Millie Jackson once said frustration ain’t no fun, but on the football field you must learn to contain it or get hurt. Sensing a collapse of the Verdes team Yabra looks for more, but Thomas Castro fails to convert.
I guess the Verdes strikers need to attend a scoring seminar when Orlando Jimenez literally butchers this golden opportunity.
Now check this out, Daniel Thomas out-sprints Calvin Guy, who cuts him down inside the box to force the penalty call. As usual, Yabra sends for Vallan Symms, who has missed the last three in a row and he hoped to break that dry spell today. Here comes his right foot push, it is picked off by Brooks, Vallan tracks down his own rebound and still can’t come up with the conversion–neither can his team mates.
Nevertheless, Yabra pulls with the 3-zip victory.
In other Regent’s Cup results from over the weekend. Builder’s Hardware Bandits zoomed to the top of the standings by bombing San Pedro Seahawks 2-zip. Juventus stayed in the race, they survived in a 4-3 struggle with Griga United yesterday at the People’s Stadium. And on Saturday Sagitun and Jacintoville rallied to a 1-1 tie at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium.
Turning to the basketball scene, the semi-pro playoffs kicked off Friday night at the City Centre with the number one seed B.T.L. Nets hosting the number four team, Corozal Dolphins.
Jamal Mortis out-steps Maurice Bullock to open the scoring and give Corozal a 2-point lead. In response, Bullock and Keith Acosta combine for the two-man game and it produces two points.
And then Marcus Watkins gets hot as he launches for three. For Corozal, the answer comes for Kelvin Gillette, who hits for three of his team high twenty-two points.
In the meantime “Quickie” Bainton, my man, you need to check whose behind you before letting the pill fly okay. However, we must say Lester Hood knows what to do with the ball as he gives Corozal two more points.
At the other end Keith Acosta stays with this rebound to send it right back in to the hole. Now don’t get Superman started as he comes down court, this time with another exclamation point, and at the half the Nets show only a 1-point lead.
After intermission B.T.L. takes over completely. Marcus Watkins wants three, he gets three, he wound finish with the game high twenty-three points.
Keith Acosta then goes to the reverse slam for two–he would post his third two doubles in a row with seventeen points, twelve boards.
Here A.C. Augustine strikes for three to give the Nets an eighteen-point lead. He would also post a two doubles of sixteen points, eleven rebounds.
In the closing moments of a ballgame, firmly being controlled by B.T.L., Albert Diaz goes to the hoop, meets some resistance, loses his balance in the air and falls violently on his back.
It’s a tragedy as the career of this young Belizean could be in grave and imminent danger. We only hope that since Diaz is an employee in the basketball industry, the Social Security, the semi-pro league or some insurance scheme will cover the damages suffered by Albert Diaz.
Nevertheless folks, B.T.L. goes onto post the 92-75 big W to take game one of this three-game series. In the other semi-final series the Raiders took a 1-game lead over Orange Walk’s Shell One-Stop in an 82-81 final score Saturday night that has the O.W. fans bex and crying foul. The win nevertheless goes to the Raiders.
That’s it for now, we invite you back same time, same place, next week. Jah over all! I’m James Adderley.
