BELIZE CITY, Thurs. June 22, 2017–The National Primary School Basketball Championships took place last Thursday, June 15, at the SJC Gym in Belize City, where female and male champion teams from all six districts of the country converged to participate in an all-day tournament. The 6 female and 6 male teams were divided into groups of 3, and a round-robin first round of competition determined the top 2 from each group, who then went on to the semifinal knockout round, and then the championship finals.
Representing their respective districts were:
FEMALE – (Div. A) – Libertad Methodist (Corozal); Louisiana Gov’t (Orange Walk); St. Joseph RC (Belize); (Div. B) – St. Francis Xavier (Cayo); PG Methodist (Toledo); Holy Family RC (Stann Creek).
MALE – (Div. A) – Libertad Methodist (Corozal); La Inmaculada RC (Orange Walk); St. Ignatius RC (Belize); (Div. B) – St. Andrews Anglican (Cayo); PG Methodist (Toledo); Holy Family RC (Stann Creek).
First round games results for female (F) and male (M) were: (F) St. Francis Xavier 24:0 PG Methodist; (M) St. Andrews Anglican 37:13 PG Methodist; (F) St. Joseph RC 60:0 Libertad Methodist; (M) St. Ignatius RC 53:3 Libertad Methodist; (F) Holy Family RC 20:5 PG Methodist; (M) Holy Family RC 28:13 PG Methodist; (F) St. Joseph RC 24:2 Louisiana Gov’t; (M) St. Ignatius RC 35:26 La Inmaculada RC; (F) St. Francis Xavier 12:9 Holy Family RC; (M) St. Andrews Anglican 33:29 Holy Family RC; (F) Louisiana Gov’t 29:0 Libertad Methodist; and (M) La Inmaculada RC 41:6 Libertad Methodist.
In the knockout semifinal matches that followed, the male contests were extremely competitive, with one of the female semifinals being close and the other by a wide margin. (F) St. Joseph RC handily defeated Holy Family RC, 24-14, with top scorer Afeni Lamb netting 15 points, while Shendra Casimiro and Ashira Miranda had 9 pts each for Holy Family RC. (M) Holy Family RC then won a real nail-biter, 33-32 over St. Ignatius RC. Aaron Nasario led Holy Family with 12 pts, while Kyle Castillo led St. Ignatius with 11 pts. (F) In a low scoring affair, Louisiana Gov’t won, 9-6, over St. Francis Xavier, with Kira Chimilio leading Louisiana with 7 pts, while Lucy Anthony had 4 pts for St. Francis. (M) And in another tough match-up, St. Andrews Anglican squeezed the 32-29 win over La Inmaculada RC. Jevar Gentle and Zoren Deucaninck scored 8 pts each for St. Andrews, while Nyiel Rampassard netted 13 pts for La Inmaculada.
The third place, consolation matches saw (F) Holy Family RC defeating St. Francis Xavier, 17-12; and (M) St. Ignatius RC, 36-21, over La Inmaculada RC.
The female (F) championship match was a rout, as St. Joseph RC rolled over Louisiana Gov’t, 32-4, with Briah Clarke scoring 18 pts for the winners. But the male (M) championship game was another thriller, with Holy Family RC prevailing, 29-28, over St. Andrews Anglican. Aaron Nasario top scored with 18 pts for Holy Family RC, while Kelvin Garnett had 14 pts for St. Andrews Anglican.
Female MVP of the tournament was Briah Clarke of St. Joseph RC (Belize District); while the Male MVP was Aaron Nasario of Holy Family RC (Stann Creek District).
(Information courtesy Ms. Barbara Cadle, Bze. Dist. Sports Coordinator, NSC)