Sports Monday: Inter-Office Knockout Rounds, Gonz Cycling Club, and Amateur Boxing in the Garden City
Goodnight folks, and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday. I am Paul Lopez. We bring you highlights from sporting events that took place over the last week. Tonight, we continue our coverage of the Inter-Office Basketball League, we will focus on two cycling showdowns, tell you what’s happening in boxing, and in tertiary level volleyball.
Let’s kick tonight off with some basketball. The Mexico Sports Center in Belize City came alive on Friday night with back-to-back action. Eight teams went up against each other for the top four spots in a win or go home showdown. Grace Kennedy took on Tuff eNuff in the first matchup. Even though Tuff eNuff came into the knockout rounds undefeated, Friday night was the opportune time for them to be sent home. But, Grace Kennedy just did not have it in them to do so. Tuff eNuff showed them why they are in fact tough enough, demolishing Grace Kennedy seventy-nine to forty points. Top scorers for the night were Francis Arana with seventeen points, the one and only Kevin Hamilton with seventeen points, and Eyan Rene with sixteen points.
Kevin Hamilton
Kevin Hamilton, Tuff eNuff
“Come een, we nuh tek no team lightly because at the end of the day this dah wah one drop, so we nuh tek no team light. The mentality dah fih win and win by as much as we could without playing out the game. We manage fih get the victory and I am happy for that.”
Eyan Rene
Eyan Rene, Tuff eNuff
“The wins over the playoff weren’t just fluke. We worked hard and put in the work. And basically, over the season we became a little about chemistry. These games we are still building chemistry, however we are sticking to the game plan which is defense and being consistent.”
Also dominant in the knockout rounds was Central Health Region/Customs. They defeat Holy Redeemer Credit Union by twenty-seven points, in a sixty-four to thirty-seven finish. The unstoppable Glency Lopez scored twenty-one points, in a show of gamesmanship and skills running the ball down the court, making the passes, getting in for the rebound, and making the assists. Plays like these throughout the game gave him eight steals, seven rebounds, and five assist.
Paul Lopez
“How do you feel about your performance tonight?”
Glency Lopez, Central Health Region/Customs
“I feel great. I happy I get the win.”
Glency Lopez
Paul Lopez
“Tell me about that is the mind set and the conversation that you guys will have to have going into the next game, because the competition only gets harder and the stakes higher.”
Glency Lopez
“Well, we just have to come with the hard work and the team work and work on communication.”
The third match of the night saw Belize Water Services go up against the Belize Police Department. At the end of the first quarter, BWSL was already leading by double digits. They maintained that lead throughout the remaining four quarters for a seventy to fifty-seven victory. And, in the final match, the Belize Coast Guard sent home Devon Daly and the National Sports Council/Belize City Council team. BWSL has its biggest challenge yet, as the team faces off against Tuff eNuff in the first game of the semi-finals on Friday night. The Belize Coast Guard and Brandon Flowers will be going up against Central Health Region/Customs.
From Basketball, we move on to some cycling action. In May 2021, the Gonz Racing Club started off with seventeen riders. The founder, Israel Gonzalez, sought to organize races to develop amateur cyclists. Since then, the club has grown quickly, with elite and master cyclists now competing against those same amateur riders. Every week, Gonz Racing Club hosts a race in various categories. This past Thursday, the club hosted a race from Old Belize to the roundabout in Hattieville and back. Here are some highlights from the event.
Dwayne Wade
Dwayne Wade, Master Elite Cyclist
“It has been few months over a year. They actually had a big race for his one year anniversary and it is fully funded and fully supported from a logistics perspective, Mr. Israel Gonzalez. He is the one that is behind this. So, we definitely want to thank him for providing an outlet for these younger cyclist coming up, and also guys like myself, the masters, to keep in shape. It has been a great thing.”
Tyrin Tasher
Tyrin Tasher, Amateur Cyclist
“It is very competitive. Like for example, we have weekly races. The average that we compete now with the weekly races is not too far from the elite clubs. And, everyone there at Gonz Club competes with these elites and finishing close with these elites. If you look at the records, it’s going and everyone is getting better, thanks to these elites and seasoned veterans.”
On Sunday, seventy-nine riders in both the amateur and the master categories rode against each other in a race from Belmopan to Old Belize. Here is a quick highlight from the exciting finish of that race, courtesy of Gonz Cycling Club.
We must shed some light on the Belize Boxing Development Council for its continued investment in the sport of boxing. The council hosted an amateur fight night in the Garden City, where Belizean boxers squared up against boxers from Guatemala. Also, congratulations to the St. John’s College Junior College volleyball men’s and women’s teams. On Saturday, both teams secured their places in the 2022 ATLIB Volleyball Nationals which will be held this coming weekend in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye.
And, that’s it for this week’s coverage of Sports Monday. If there is a sporting event in your community that you would like for us to cover, you can contact us at 672-5555. Until next time, I am Paul Lopez.
