Belize tops Mexico in Basketball

Sporting news is usually handled in the last section of Monday’s broadcast, and indeed James Adderley will make his scheduled appearance shortly. But tonight we’ll pre-empt Sports Monday with the good news that on Sunday night the Belize National Basketball team won its opener in the Caribbean and Central American Games in El Salvador. The victory came at the expense of Mexico and the score was eighty-nine, eighty. Top scorer was Darwin Carter with twenty-one points and five assists. Alex Carcamo scored twenty, with five steals, while Kirk “Shabba” Smith was good for fifteen points and ten rebounds. One victory does not make a tournament, but success in a strong field would go a long way toward restoring Belize’s image as a basketball power following the theft of the Caribbean crown two years ago in Barbados. Belize plays its second game tonight against the highly rated Dominican Republic. Other teams in the seven member field include Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Barbados and Guatemala. Favourites Cuba and Panama withdrew from the competition shortly before the opening. The single camera video tape of Sunday’s game with Mexico will air right here on Channel 5 tonight following Caribscope, shortly after eight. It comes complete with Spanish language commentary courtesy of Cayo’s Channel 3.

And when you watch, look out for an incident that occurs late in the second half. The camera does not catch the source of the brawl, but it does show Belize’s Darwin Carter delivering a massive punch to his Mexican counterpart. It is not known what, if any, disciplinary action has been taken against Carter or the team.

And in related news, we are happy to have received a photo of Matthew Anderson, a Belizean residing abroad, who is shown with his bronze medal earned last week in the racquetball competition. Congratulations on what by all accounts was a fine performance.