Benny’s Belize Hurricanes Defeats OW Running Rebels in BEBL Match
Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. A category five hurricane blew through the Belize City Civic Center on Friday night. The highly anticipated basketball match between the Bennys’s Belize Hurricanes and the Orange Walk Running Rebels brought out fans from both teams for this thriller.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
BEBL’s Rookie, the African Giant, Sidibe Bourama dropped fifteen points for the Hurricanes, with a seventy-five percent shooting average for the night, and six rebounds. Hurricane’s Jamal Harris followed closely behind with fourteen points at the end of the game. He is a clutch three-point shooter and big under the rim, finishing with ten rebounds Captain Victor “Vito” Evans led his team in scoring, ending the game with sixteen points. He is a play maker and an executer with a high IQ on and off the ball. Running Rebel’s Mathew Young put on a valiant effort for his team, completely dominating under the rim, racking up twelve rebounds, with an efficient fifty-five percent shooting average from the field for the night, ending the game with twenty-one points.
2023 Season MVP contender James Stanback is off to a slow start in the season, banking only four of his nineteen attempts from the field. Notwithstanding his sluggishness from the field, Stanback was a hundred percent from the free-throw line. But, ultimately the Benny’s Belize Hurricanes secured its second straight win with eighty-nine points to the Rebel’s seventy-one points. The name of the game here was defense, and overall the Hurricanes was more structured on the defensive end and took advantage of the Rebel’s poor defensive display. We spoke with a few players from the winning team after the game.
Sidibe Bourama
Sidibe Bourama, Benny’s Belize Hurricanes
“One of my focus is to play harder, to bring the toughness for my team, protect the rims and make sure I run the floor. Whatever jump shot I got around, to make sure I make that and bring the time together that is my focus most of the time.”
Victor “Vito” Evans
Victor “Vito” Evans, Benny’s Belize Hurricanes
“I have been blessed in the last like eight years to be mentored by some really good guys in Meta World Peace and Cory Maggette . They though me a lot about the game as far as just, I should never go down the court and predetermine what I will do. I should always see the floor and know where everybody is at and then go on my instinct from there.”
Paul Lopez
“For the season, do you guys feel like you are getting comfortable and hitting that sweet spot?”
Clency Lopez
Clency Lopez, Benny’s Belize Hurricanes
“Yes, we don’t want to feel like that, because if we feel like that, because if we feel like that teams wah come and beat we and we just want to continue pushing it. 1:39
Let’s move over to some football action. The Central Secondary School Sports Association hosted its regional championship games on Saturday inside the Marion Jones Sporting Complex. Here is more from those games. The match for third place between Sadie Vernon High School and Saint John’s College male teams ended in a penalty shoot-out after thirty minutes of overtime. Up by one, after scoring their first kick and blocking SJC’s first shot, Sadie Vernon’s goal keeper executed another massive block.
Number fourteen for Sadie Vernon came behind with a kick that completely missed the goal. Ultimately, two massive stops from SJC’s goalkeeper would secure the bronze medal for his team. In the female finals, Wesley College took on Gwen Lizarraga High School. Gwen Liz came into the last of this best-of-two matchup with two goals, leaving their opponents with no other options than to score more than three goals and stop Gwen Liz from scoring. Five minutes into the match, Wesley’s Zairah Gentle launched this superb free kick from beyond the penalty box that flew right pass Gwen Lizarraga’s goal keeper.
Gentle lit a fire in her teammates that would ultimately burnout under the sweltering heat of the day and ninety-minutes of play time. Gwen Lizarraga High School finished the game on top and secured their spot in the upcoming National Championship. In the male finals, the very same schools went up against each other. And, as fate would have it, Wesley College’s male team was also down two goals coming into the second and final game. Twenty-seven minutes into the game, Wesley’s Jacob Joseph was awarded a penalty kick after a nasty foul from number seventeen for Gwen Lizarraga. Joseph scored the penalty shot. Early in the second half, the referee blew a whistle against Wesley for a hard tackle, giving Calvin Thurton an opportunity to extend the lead. And, Thurton did just that. With only eight minutes left in the game, a hand ball was called against Wesley inside the penalty box. Christon Linares secured the gold medal for Gwen Lizarraga with that penalty kick. Gwen Lizarraga High School male team is also moving on to the Nationals.
Well Folks, that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.
