BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 24, 2020– The Belize District Primary Schools 2019-2020 Basketball Tournament Finals were played today, Monday, February 24, at the Swift Hall Gym in Belize City. There were 3 Belize City teams in the Female (F) category (St. John’s Anglican, Queen’s Square Anglican and St. Martin De Porres); and 4 Male (M) teams, comprising 2 from Belize City (Wesley Upper and Holy Redeemer) and 1 each from the Belize River Valley area (Belize Rural Primary) and 1 from San Pedro Town (San Pedro RC).
With only 3 teams, the females played a double-elimination first round, while the 4 male teams played a simple knockout first round.
FEMALE (F) – In game 1, St. John’s Anglican defeated St. Martin De Porres, 8-2. Game 2 was St. John’s Anglican, 8-5, over Queen’s Square Anglican. And in game 3, St. Martin won, 7-0, over Queen’s Square Anglican. So, undefeated St. John’s Anglican was joined by St. Martin De Porres in the finals.
St. Martin De Porres girls – Belize District Female Basketball Sub-Champions 2019-2020
In the (F) championship finals, it was St. John’s Anglican with the 8-2 victory over St. Martin De Porres. St. John’s Anglican was led by Neecia Casimiro and Akeelah Brown with 4 pts apiece, while Zaria Chavez had 2 pts for St. Martin De Porres.
MALE (F) – In the first semifinal, it was Holy Redeemer, 27-15, over Belize Rural Primary. For Holy Redeemer, Amare Williams had 7 pts; while Tayshawn Flowers led Belize Rural with 5 pts. And in the second semifinal Wesley Upper blew out San Pedro RC, 27-7. Thomas Garcia had 12 pts for Wesley, while Josue Perez led San Pedro RC with 3 pts. Holy Redeemer and Wesley Upper therefore qualified to the finals.
It was a competitive score in the (M) championship final, where Wesley Upper prevailed, 23-17, over Holy Redeemer. Calvin Thurton was top scorer with 8 pts for Wesley Upper, while Jahmor Lopez tallied 7 pts for Holy Redeemer.
Both finalists for females and males will be representing the Belize District at the Primary Schools Basketball Semifinals to be held in Corozal at the Corozal Civic Center this Friday, February 28. So those will be, in the females – St. John’s Anglican (champs) and St. Martin De Porres (sub-champs); and in the males – Wesley Upper (champs) and Holy Redeemer RC (sub-champs).
(Information courtesy Mrs. Barbara Cadle Lanza, NSC)
Feature photo: St. John’s Anglican girls – Belize District Female Basketball Champions 2019-2020
Photos courtesy William Ysaguirre