DANGRIGA TITANS HOST BELIZE BANK BULLDOGS U-15 & U-17 CLUBS TOMORROW NIGHT AT Y-NOT ISLAND
Posted: 12/11/2009 - 06:52 PM
Author: Bernard Wagner
In commemorating the first anniversary of the Belize Bank Bulldogs Basketball Club, members of the U-15 and U-17 programs will be participating in a friendly basketball exchange tomorrow night in Dangriga Town against the Dangriga Titans. The games which commence at 6:30 p.m. at Y-Not Island, and which officially is an event on the Garifuna Settlement Day calendar, put the U-15 and U-17 Bulldogs against players of their age group who originate from that municipality. The first of three games on the night has the U-15 Bulldogs going up against Dangriga Little Titans, followed by a similar match-up in the U-17 category. To top off the night’s festivities, the much anticipated senior match-up has a Dangriga All Star selection playing host to a visiting senior team hailing from Punta Gorda.
The Bulldogs Basketball Development Program, which started just one year ago under the tutelage of head coaches Darwin “Puppy” Leslie, Roscoe Rhys, Rupert Brown and Paul Swasey, has really come a long way, and, as a testimony to their hard work and dedication, has certainly touched the lives of many of the inner city youths who, if not for the weekend program, might have been busy involved in other harmful activities. The mood in the camp, according to the coaches, is encouraging, based on the noticeable improvement in all the participants’ basketball fundamental skills development, body conditioning, strength, and their overall understanding of the game as it relates to the team concept.
The program, which is being sponsored corporately by the Belize Bank Ltd. and managed by Bernard Wagner, started with a modest fifteen kids just about a year ago; however, since then it has now swelled to over fifty youths from all over the city with ages ranging between 10 to 17 years old. The mix of the members is unique in that they hail from diverse backgrounds and contrasting ethnicity. Some are the products from well-off families, while some are the opposite; some come from the North-side while some hail from the South-side. However, what is amazing is that, despite their different backgrounds, the participants have learned to appreciate and care for each other’s well being, thereby demonstrating that as a group they have bought in to the four coaches’ concept of teamwork, school work, good sportsmanship, and good community leaders. The program has, where possible, rendered assistance to some of its less fortunate members by way of school book scholarships, and during the course of the year has provided basketball shoes to its members.
Competitively, the clubs have not been as active as they would desire, but nevertheless have fared off very well on the court. The U-15 club made their debut in Cancun, Mexico late last year, when they participated in a Mexican/Belizean basketball exchange; and, while they lost horribly in their first outing, it was an eye-opener for the club, who rebounded quickly to win the local Freetown/Caribbean Labor Day marathon as well as the regular tournament, compiling a record of 7 wins against 1 loss. In September, they traveled to the Northern District of Corozal where they were hosted by the U-15 Dazzle basketball team. They won in convincing fashion in that game by the final score of 76-19, and are hoping for similar success tomorrow night against the Little Titans from Dangriga. Meanwhile, the U-17 team, which is a much more talented bunch, with the likes of Kaschief Thomas and Sherwin Garcia in the mix, has achieved more success than the U-15 arm, winning handily over Mesopotamia in their debut in the Belize City Council Youth Basketball Marathon held at Yarborough in February of this year. They have since followed up that with a win in Corozal and, like the U-15, are hoping to continue that streak tomorrow night at Y-Not Island.
To ensure that kids in the given age bracket get their fair share of games under their belt, and with a noticeably non-functional Belize District Basketball Association, the Bulldogs management will be organizing a U-15 and U-17 tournament scheduled to commence in late January, 2010.
THIS WEEK IN HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Exciting high school basketball action continued this past week at the Belize City Center with Ladyville Technical High (LTHS) male extending Edward P. Yorke’s (EPYHS) losing streak to three games on Monday night with a big 54-49 win. Russell Staine was the high-man for LTHS, totaling 16 pts, followed by Fitzgerald Alvarez who contributed 14 pts in the win. Meanwhile, for the winless EPYHS it was Tariq Gabb totaling a game high 22 pts, followed by Trevor McFoy with 10 pts. In the nightcap male game, Nazarene High School (NHS) squeaked past Gwen Liz (GLHS) by the score of 77-75, led by Alejandro Baptist 31 pts and Ryan Flowers 12 pts. GLHS scoring was led by Matthew Young 24 pts and Sherwin Garcia 22 pts.
Tuesday’s score had Wesley girls getting by Pallotti by the final score of 30-26, behind Anna Pinto 11 pts and Zelyse Tucker 10 pts; while Victoria Zelaya was the lone bright spot for Pallotti, totaling a game high 18 pts. Meanwhile, in the male encounter, defending national champs Sadie Vernon Technical High (SVTH) extended their unbeaten record to (3-0) as they walloped one-time perennial powerhouse Wesley by the final score of 99-42. Kaschief Thomas, arguably the best player in high school hoops, threw down a game high 26 pts in the win, followed by London Reneau 18 pts. Wesley, who obviously has fallen on hard times and now occupies the cellar in the division, was led by Vince Young 14 pts and Kadeem Loredo 11 pts. Meanwhile, in Wednesday’s action it was St. John’s College improving to (3-0) on the season with a 59-56 win over first time entry, Tubal. Raheem Staine had 15 pts in the win, followed by Kendice Williams 14 pts. For Tubal it was Darren Longsworth totaling a game high 33 pts, followed by Ian Wagner 7 pts. In the closing game of the night, Gwen Liz, led by Matthew Young 33 pts and Sherwin Garcia 14 pts, embarrassed Anglican Cathedral College by the final score of 62-46. Justin Usher and Alain Alexis scored 14 and 16 pts, respectively, in the loss.
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