Roundup: Palmetto Ridge boys win Class 3A-Region 2 wrestling, Mariner, FBA have strong showings

A roundup of regional girls and boys basketball games, as well as baseball, softball, and lacrosse played the week of Feb. 19-24:

SATURDAY

Class 3A-Region 2 Boys Wrestling

Palmetto Ridge qualified nine wrestlers to the State Tournament on their way to a first place finish in the Class 3A-Region 2 Boys Wrestling Tournament on Saturday.

The Bears finished with a team score of 203, defeating Osceola (198.5) and Palm Harbor University (97) on the podium. Lehigh was the only other local squad that competed, and finished 33rd with one point.

Here are the match results from all the local wrestlers who qualified for the State Championship.

106

First Place: Erik Perez (Palmetto Ridge) 52-7, So. over Brendon Clark (Sumner) 40-5, Jr. (Dec 10-7).

113

First Place: Adaias Ortiz (Osceola) 48-7, Fr. over William McGowan (Palmetto Ridge) 36-20, So. (Fall 1:32)

126

First Place: Christopher Dinsdale (Dr. Lennard Sr) 42-4, Jr. over Jordan Blomberg (Palmetto Ridge) 5-1, Fr. (Fall 3:13)

144

First Place: James Singer (Bloomingdale Sr) 47-4, Sr. over Mark Whalen (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) 33-11, Sr. (Fall 3:24)

150

First Place: Anderson Heap (Osceola) 54-5, Sr. over Xavier Barnhart (Palmetto Ridge) 36-8, Jr. (Fall 1:09)

157

First Place: Demetri Zertopoulis (Palmetto Ridge) 52-6, Sr. over Nathaniel Cabrera (Osceola) 37-14, Jr. (Fall 3:54)

165

First Place: Vincent Donatelle  (North Port) 38-5, Sr. over Owen Pratt (Palmetto Ridge) 36-20, Sr. (Fall 1:37)

215

First Place: Baxter Hoffman (George M. Steinbrenner) 52-1, Sr. over Jordan Peralez (Palmetto Ridge) 39-18, Jr. (Fall 0:23)

285

First Place: Kaden Darwin (Palmetto Ridge) 51-1, Sr. over CJ McCutcheon (Riverview (Sarasota)) 31-7, Jr. (Fall 3:47)

Class 2A-Region 3 Wrestling

The championship round of the Region 2A-3 wrestling championship was more like a victory lap for the eventual team champion, Jesuit.

However, there were several area wrestlers who shined, with two from Mariner taking regional championship honors, the only area wrestlers to take home the gold.

Camren French, who transferred from Charlotte to wrestle for Mariner, won at 126 pounds, and Maximus Brady, a two-time state champion, took home his third regional title in the 132-pound weight class at the Wally Keller Gymnasium at Charlotte High School.

French, a senior, defeated Reid Yates of Jesuit 9-0 in the finals, while Brady defeated Gavin Pozzie of Parrish Community by technical fall at 2:44.

French said he felt great going into the week and was confident going into the final, especially wrestling in the gym he called home for three years.

“It felt great to put a stamp on it. It felt great to break Jesuit’s momentum for sure,” French said. “I used to wrestle here, but I like Mariner and the team even better. My uncle coaches here and it’s a better school.”

Brady, a junior, has been through this all before and said everything he does are just stepping stones for the bigger picture.

“I look at this as a way of getting better and going out and taking care of business. I teched him earlier in the year so I felt confident I would go out and tech him again,” Brady said.

A third wrestler, Logan Ngo, also qualified for states in the 215-pound class.

Despite all the success in the finals by the Tritons, they were not the area’s top scorer, finishing sixth with 85.5 points. That honor went to North Fort Myers, who finished a surprising fourth in the team competition with 89 points behind Jesuit (288), Charlotte (192) and Manatee (147).

The Red Knights have slowly built up an impressive program and will bring four wrestlers to states in Kissimmee next week.

The best was D’Angelo Gil who reached the finals in the 120-pound class before getting pinned by Jesuit’s Roman Lermer. However, North will also bring Julian Gonzalez, third at 165-pounds, Frank Cornelison, third at 215 and Seth Tshiams, third at 285.

Shawn Earhart, North head coach, said he has one of the best teams in school history because it all begins to hard work and caring for the kids who work on the floor every day.

“You show them you love them and they respond to you. We work a lot. We don’t slack off. We show them the path and they respond,” Earhart said. “We make it fun for them. We make it a family atmosphere and show them there’s more to this than wrestling, like the assets of life.”

Cape Coral was eighth with 76.5 points, Barron Collier was ninth at 47.5 and Naples rounded out the Top 10 with 38.

In other finals matches with area wrestlers, Joseph Wilkinson of Barron Collier was defeated by Jesuit’s Draven McCall 13-3 in the 150-pound final, and Cape Coral’s Judd Cole was pinned by Jesuit’s Kawayran Vazquez in 3:25 in the 157-pound final.

Also qualifying for states were Maynor Herrera of Immokalee at 106, Kael Seneca of Fort Myers at 113, Isaac Kowenko of Cape Coral at 120, Joseph Conrad of Fort Myers at 138, Jonathan Martinez-Mercado of South Fort Myers at 145, Tyler Charette of Cape Coral at 175, Trey Hill of Naples at 190, and Triston White of Cypress Lake at 285.

-Chuck Ballaro

Here are the complete team scores from local schools, as well as SWFL wrestlers who also punched their tickets to states.

Team Scores: 4. North Fort Myers (89); 6. Mariner (85.5); 8. Cape Coral (76.5); 9. Barron Collier (47.5); 10. Naples (40); 12. South Fort Myers (37); 14. Fort Myers (34); 16. Cypress Lake (24); 17. Bonita Springs (22); 19. East Lee County (21); T20. Immokalee (20); 22. Golden Gate (18.5); 23. Lely (14); T28. Dunbar (11); 31. Ida Baker (4); T33. Island Coast (1)

106

Third Place: Joseph Obstaculo (Hollins) 41-7, Fr. over Maynor Herrera (Immokalee) 33-6, Sr. (Dec 8-4)

113

Third Place: Kael Seneca (Ft Myers) 41-5, So. over Caden Moore (Charlotte Hs) 29-13, So. (Dec 8-2)

120

First Place: Roman Lermer (Jesuit) 44-4, Sr. over D`angelo Gil (North Ft Myers) 34-4, Sr. (Fall 1:07)

Third Place: Isaac Towenko (Cape Coral) 31-11, Jr. over Sean Herlihy (Palmetto) 41-11, Jr. (Fall 1:52)

126

First Place: Camren French (Mariner) 50-1, Sr. over Reid Yakes (Jesuit) 41-8, Fr. (MD 9-0)

132

Maximus Brady (Mariner) 43-2, Jr. over Gavin Pozzie (Parrish High School ) 40-9, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:43 (17-1))

138

Third Place: Jake Wyatt (Palmetto) 48-7, Jr. over Joseph Conrad (Ft Myers) 31-8, Jr. (Dec 5-2)

144

Third Place: Jonathan Martinez-Mercado (South Ft. Myers) 55-2, Sr. over Carson Bennett (Charlotte Hs) 30-17, Jr. (MD 12-1)

150

First Place: Draven McCall (Jesuit) 23-2, Jr. over Joseph Wilkinson (Barron G Collier) 41-7, Jr. (MD 13-3)

157

First Place: Kawayran Vazquez (Jesuit) 27-2, Fr. over Judd Cole (Cape Coral) 45-4, Sr. (Fall 3:24)

165

Third Place: Julian Gonzales (North Ft Myers) 41-3, Jr. over HUNTER WHITE (Manatee) 48-11, Sr. (Fall 2:49)

175

Third Place: Tyler Charette (Cape Coral) 37-6, Sr. over Isaac Schaeffer (Charlotte Hs) 45-10, Sr. (Fall 2:28)

190

Third Place: Marvin Mendez (Jesuit) 19-14, Fr. over Trey Hill (Naples) 36-7, Sr. (Fall 1:23)

215

Third Place: Frank Cornelison (North Ft Myers) 26-1, Sr. over Logan Ngo (Mariner) 34-12, Sr. (MD 14-5)

285

Third Place: Seth Tshiams (North Ft Myers) 38-4, Jr. over Triston White (Cypress Lake) 34-8, Sr. (Dec 5-0)

Class 1A-Region 3 Wrestling

Twenty Southwest Florida wrestlers are moving on to States  following Saturday's Region 1A-3 wrestling tournament at Lemon Bay High School.

First Baptist led the area contingent with a runner-up finish, totaling 160 points to first place Zephyrhills Christian's 238.

"We performed well with our six guys in the finals," Lions coach Mike DiGrigoli said. "We were fortunate to get six champions. I thought they looked pretty dominant. They were able to be relaxed and execute on the mat. Seven guys who didn't place wrestled really well, like Logan Brown at 120. He's only in seventh grade so we're excited about that. We've just got to have one great week in preparation for the State Tournament because that's where it counts."

Capturing regional titles for First Baptist were Everett Stephens (106), Timmy Boda (113), Jonathan Moder (132), Asher Bacon (138), Michael Kersey (144), and Andres DiGrigoli (157).

The Lions were regional champions last year and finished third at the state tournament, but weren't able to successfully defend their regional title.

"We were just a couple of guys too short," DiGrigoli said. "But the guys we brought really produced so I was really proud of them. I think it puts us in a good position to do well next week."

Also taking home a regional championship was Bishop Verot's Bennett Sweitzer, who defeated John Kelly of Boca Ciega, 15-3, in the 175 pound finals.

Host Lemon Bay finished third with 107 points. Other top finishers among area schools were fifth place Aubrey Rogers (80.5 points), ninth place Oasis (67.5 points) and 11th place Bishop Verot (54.5 points).

Luka Zherka (113) and Damien Zherka (126) had runner-up finishes for Aubrey Rogers.

-Bruce Robins

Here are the complete team scores from local schools, as well as SWFL wrestlers who also punched their tickets to states.

Team Scores: 2. First Baptist (160); 5. Aubrey Rogers (80.5); 9. Oasis (67.5); 11. Bishop Verot (54.5); 14. Gateway (43.5); 16. LaBelle (37); 17. ECS (35); T21. SFCA (27); T24. Gateway Charter (18); 31. Estero (10).

106

First Place: Everett Stephens (First Baptist (Naples)) 34-4, Fr. over Broc Dahlin (Bayshore) 48-4, Fr. (Dec 4-1)

113

First Place: Timmy Boda (First Baptist (Naples)) 36-4, 8th. over Lukah Zherka (Aubrey Rogers) 36-9, Fr. (Fall 3:00)

Third Place: Izak Rodriguez (Zephyrhills Christian ) 56-15, Fr. over Leland Flaherty (Evangelical Christian School) 32-11, Fr. (Dec 5-1)

126

First Place: Jack Oliver (Lemon Bay) 56-6, Jr. over Damien Zherka (Aubrey Rogers) 38-5, Fr. (MD 8-0)

132

First Place: Jonathan Moder (First Baptist (Naples)) 42-7, So. over Dominic Hernandez (Robinson) 43-18, Sr. (Fall 1:50)

Third Place: Kyle Gallo (Zephyrhills Christian ) 67-11, Fr. over Derrique Mytial (Gateway (Fort Myers)) 34-9, Jr. (Dec 9-3)

138

First Place: Asher Bacon (First Baptist (Naples)) 18-2, 7th. over Dominic Fouche` (Clearwater Cen. Catholic) 43-7, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:51 (16-1))

144

First Place: Michael Kersey (First Baptist (Naples)) 46-3, Jr. over Talon Maple (Zephyrhills Christian ) 63-5, Jr. (Dec 4-3)

Third Place: Devon Jackson (LaBelle) 32-4, Sr. over Conner Murphy (Lemon Bay) 32-9, Sr. (Inj. 1:33)

150

Third Place: Kealan Clifton (Oasis) 45-10, Sr. over Leo Tiannoi (Boca Ciega School) 36-7, Sr. (Fall 1:36)

157

First Place: Andres DiGrigoli (First Baptist (Naples)) 27-3, So. over Madiyan Abumunshar (Sarasota Military Academy) 29-9, Sr. (Fall 1:46)

Third Place: Nicholas Pawlak (Tarpon Springs) 32-11, Jr. over Owen Brown (Southwest Florida Christian Academy) 21-6, Sr. (Dec 6-3)

165

Third Place: Anthony Farnot (Gateway (Fort Myers)) 22-4, So. over Colin Anderson (Oasis) 26-18, Jr. (Fall 2:19)

175

First Place: Bennett Sweitzer (Bishop Verot) 48-2, So. over John Kelly (Boca Ciega School) 23-3, Jr. (MD 15-3)

190

Third Place: Derek Washington Jr. (Evangelical Christian School) 33-5, Jr. over Frederick Harley Jr. (Oasis) 34-12, Jr. (M. For.)

215

Third Place: Darian Alvarez-Garcia (Aubrey Rogers) 33-6, Sr. over Lexander Coleman (Lakewood) 7-3, Jr. (Fall 1:59)

285

Third Place: Miquel Diaz (Lemon Bay) 43-10, Sr. over Edward Nolan (Bishop Verot) 25-6, Sr. (Dec 3-1)

FRIDAY

Baseball

Evangelical Christian 2, SFCA 1: Kyle Klaric-Schell lasted six innings on the mound for the Sentinels, and gave up just three hits and no earned runs while walking two and striking out 12. Cole Ingole fanned 13 through six innings in the loss with three hits and one run. Eli Moore went 1-for-2 with an RBI for SFCA.

Lowndes 11, St John Neumann 9

Boys Lacrosse

Immokalee 15, Palm Beach Gardens 2: Ivan Jimenez netted six goals for the Indians, while Ryan Medoza added four goals and one assist. Jesus Martinez added three goals and three assists, and Juan Vasquez tacked on two goals with three assists. Luis Acevedo had one goal and one assist,. Max Sosa and Zeke Aguliar finished with one goal each.

THURSDAY

Girls Basketball

Class 2A-Region 3 Final

When ECS girls basketball coach Dwayne Donnell is in bed at night dreaming about the perfect first quarter, his subconscious probably couldn’t come up with what his real-life Sentinels did Thursday night.

Facing a well-coached and talented St. John Neumann squad, ECS’ pressure and defensive rotation flummoxed the Celtics, forcing multiple turnovers, including a handful from star center Sophia McCartney. Its offense ran the fast break, buried transition jumpers, and swished open 3-pointers.

And when the first eight minutes were over, ECS led by 14 and it felt like more as they cruised to a return trip to the Class 2A Final Four with a 61-42 win in the Sentinel Field House. The Sentinels (24-3) will face University Christian (19-6) in the state semifinal Tuesday in Lakeland.

“Man, that was perfect,” said Donnell, whose team lost in last year’s state semifinal to Horeb Christian. “If we can just bottle that up and give me two more games like that to start a game with defense, shooting, I don't even know we missed. Multiple kids hitting threes, sharing the basketball.

“I'm proud of my kids and the effort. We are really excited about the fact that we are going back to Lakeland.”

Zaira Mitchell played an excellent first quarter for the Sentinels, scoring seven points with tough work in the paint and fronted and harassed McCartney, who scored only two points as she was swarmed by ECS defenders. Maddie O’Berski buried two 3-pointers with one each from Jadah Toombs and Kellisia Grant.

“I just love guarding the post,” said Mitchell, who scored a game-high 17 points. “I don't know why I just love like wrestling with people and because I have four brothers so I'm always wrestling with people so it's just really fun.”

Things got worse for the Celtics (24-4) early in the second quarter as McCartney picked up her second and third fouls within the first minute. ECS’ lead grew to 29-14 when McCartney came back in with 1:47 left and she picked up her fourth foul 19 seconds later. Arielle Marc buried her second and third 3-pointers of the quarter on back-to-back possessions in the last minute as ECS led 37-16 at the break.

“We preached all week that they're gonna press, they're gonna attack you, they’re gonna double the ball and we didn't handle it. We did not handle that well,” Neumann coach John Wholihan said.

“You can't get down like that especially against ECS because they're not going to let up which that's what they’re known for. So I give them congratulations, kudos for a good game. I wish them well. I hope they go and take it for us down there.”

The Sentinels built their largest lead at 49-18 in the third quarter before the Celtics’ Sydney Martin, who scored a team-high 14, hit a 3 and three free throws, and McCartney, who finished with five points, hit three free throws to make it 51-27 after three quarters.

ECS had well-balanced scoring as O’Berski and Nalah Smith each scored 10 and Marc 14 while Toombs only scored five points but played outstanding defense and controlled the ball from the point.  

“We had kids hit big shots all the time,” Donnell said. “We didn't even lay up much tonight. You know, when we get out early, we usually lay the ball up, we were shooting rhythm threes, moving the ball, penetrating, kick out. So it was phenomenal.”

― Ed Reed

Class 5A-Region 3 Final

Port Charlotte 63, Lely 49

PORT CHARLOTTE – Defying the odds has been a consistent theme for the Lely girls basketball team for much of the season.

Thursday night looked like that trend would continue on the road in a hostile environment against Port Charlotte. Sasha Rubanova had just nailed a 3-pointer to give the Trojans their largest lead of the game at 46-39 at the 6:41 mark of the fourth quarter, silencing what was previously a loud gym.

But there was one problem in the possessions that followed: Lely’s offense went silent while the Pirates kept getting points on the other end. And the hometown crowd kept getting louder and louder as the margin shrunk.

Once the lead switched hands at the 4:30 mark, the gym had reached deafening levels. It was too much to overcome for the Trojans, who had an inopportune scoring drought spanning just under five minutes in the fourth along with being on the wrong end of a 16-0 run to lose 63-49 in the Class 5A-Region 3 title game.

“I told them that it wasn’t going to be easy,” Port Charlotte coach Mike Progl said. “If it’s easy, it doesn’t feel so sweet. They needed to work hard. I said, ‘No matter what, they’re going to go on a run, we’re going to go on a run, they’re going to go on a run.’ You need to keep the course and just listen to the gameplan, and let’s go. That’s what we did. They listened.”

Out of the gate, Lely struggled to find its footing and its offense, trailing 13-6 in the opening stanza thanks to multiple traveling calls, offensive fouls, and solid defense from Port Charlotte (19-11). Similar to the game against Parrish earlier in the week, Lely started to make inroads on the Pirates lead, getting within one before heading into the halftime break trailing 28-25.

The Trojans (20-9) blitzed the Pirates out of the locker room as Sofiia Kiritsa’s inbound pass led to a 3-pointer at the top of the key from senior Hulyessha Prudhomme to tie things at 28. From there, both teams would go on their runs, with Lely grabbing its first lead at the 4:36 mark in the third quarter from a pretty bucket by Kiritsa that was contested by two Pirate defenders.

Kiritsa had a huge hand in Lely’s third quarter surge, hitting a triple that was knocked down from a sponsorship logo at least 10 feet beyond the arc towards midcourt. The sophomore had seven points in the third and had a team-high 20 points for Lely, her eighth outing topping that mark this season.

“… Sofiia is a really good player,” Progl said. “She pulled up from 15 feet behind the 3-point line and nailed it… We had some spots where we didn’t switch when we were supposed to, left her open, and she made them.”

The Port Charlotte defense buckled down on her and the rest of the Lely offense for much of the final eight minutes, as the Trojans were unable to seal the deal on what would’ve been the program’s first Final Four berth in program history.

Lely was held to just a pair of field goals in the fourth, while Port Charlotte took 23 free throws in that span. The Pirates went 26 of 44 from the line for the game, while the Trojans went 12 of 22. Port Charlotte outscored Lely in the fourth, 28-9.

“I think they played with more energy,” Lely coach Jalen Outten said. “We both play the same. Whoever plays with more energy, the ball is going to fall in the basket. We weren’t playing defense like them. God’s going to reward you in the end if you play defense.”

Prudhomme, who entered the night averaging just under three points per game, turned in her best performance of the season with a season-high 12 points in what would be her final outing.

“It’s bigger than basketball (for her),” Outten said. “People don’t know, but last night, they went to practice and went straight to work. She was an hour late for work. This kid is different man, they’re different. Basketball is almost second. I tried to show them what you can do with this little ball, you could be great. These kids are from all kinds of different backgrounds, but they showed up tonight, man. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Lely’s turnaround over the last three seasons since Outten took over has been beyond remarkable, going from 20 losses in his first season to 20 wins in his third, along with a 15-game winning streak that was snapped Thursday.

“First, it was God,” Outten said. “We have FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). We averaged 75 percent of the team going there. We do our own devotional on Wednesdays, so it starts there. Glorifying God, we do that first and then it’s our relationship. We’re close, man. We’re close. We’re family. Lely is a community. It’s all relationship.

“We’ll be back. We lose three people, but we’ll be back. We will be back. I’m letting you know, we will be back here.”

― Alex Martin

Softball

North Fort Myers 11, Mariner 0 (five innings): Kaliyah Williams pitched a perfect game for the Red Knights, and tallied 10 strikeouts through five innings pitched while also going 3-for-3 at the plate.

Riverdale 5, Immokalee 3: Gabby Giugliano led the Raiders at the plate after going 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, while Sara Hall and Addie Manetta each had a double of their own. Ella Bundy, Jordyn Korpi, and Nicole Ramirez all added hits in the win. Addie Manetta picked up the win in the circle with seven strikeouts.

SFCA 16, Oasis 3: The King's tallied 18 hits as a team, led by Adrianna Thorne's five hits while Vivian Stark and Braelyn Davis tacked on three hits each. Davis also lasted four innings in the circle while giving up just one hit. Olivia Tyler pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Baseball

SFCA 10, First Baptist 0 (six innings): Ian Long tallied five strikeouts in five innings on the mound while giving up just one hit. Cole Ingole went 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run, a double, one run and one RBI. Will Higby also homered in the win, and finished 2-for-4 with five RBI.

Boys Lacrosse

Palmetto Ridge 9, Lely 6: Jeremy Walsh tallied four goals for the Bears, while Ryan Rowtie and Jackson Imbus added two goals each. Evan Van Natta netted his first career goal in the win. Kleber Flores-Hernandez finished with 15 saves in the net.

Girls Lacrosse

Aubrey Rogers 6, Gateway 5: Amanda Van Fleet, Cate Middleton, Natalia Neary, Chloe Wahba, Nicole Frearson and Catherine Pacter all scored for the Patriots in the program's first win of its inaugural season.

Girls Tennis

Fort Myers 7, Lehigh 0: Amber Alber, Anastasia Martin, and Sunishka Mehta picked up wins in singles and doubles for the Green Wave.

Girls Flag Football

Lehigh 7, East Lee County 6

WEDNESDAY

Softball

St. John Neumann 12, Golden Gate 0 (5 innings): Sophia Escobar lasted all five innings of the shutout, and allowed just one hit and no walks while fanning 13. Hannah Ramundo went 3-for-3 with a triple and three RBI, while Jolie Barth and Asha Dickerson both went 2-for-3 at the plate and combined for four RBI with one double each. Jacie Barth tacked on a triple to the winning effort.

Girls Lacrosse

Barron Collier 15, Bishop Verot 4: Daphne O'Hara led the Cougars with one goal, two assists, four draw controls, and four ground balls while Lily Lockard added two goals, one draw control, and two ground balls. Piper Kelleher had one draw control, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Bridget Horlbek tallied six saves in the win.

TUESDAY

BOYS BASKETBALL

Class 5A-Region 3

Mariner 76, Barron Collier 60

Last year, the Mariner High School boys basketball team saw its season come to an end with a two-point loss at Barron Collier in the Class 5A-Region 3 semifinals.

On Tuesday at Frank Morris Memorial Gymnasium, the same two teams met in the same round. The result, however, couldn’t have been more different.

Mariner jumped on the visiting Cougars from the game’s outset, quickly building a double-digit lead on its way to a wire-to-wire victory and the Tritons’ first regional final trip since 2018.

All five starters scored in double-figures for Mariner (20-8), led by senior guard Corey Hunter, who had a game-high 21 points.

"(Corey) was great tonight,” Tritons head coach Ryan Hercek said. “We’ve been led in scoring by every one of our starters at some point during the season. I feel like that’s what makes us dangerous, that different guys can go off at any given time.”

In the first quarter, seniors Asher Hercek and Justin Lewis combined for 15 points during a 17-3 opening run that put the Tritons in firm control. Barron Collier (20-9), which was seeking its third consecutive regional final berth, connected on just one field in the first quarter.

“That team has played in as many playoff games in the last four or five years as any other team around here,” Ryan Hercek said of the Cougars. “We know they know how to play and that’s why it was very important to jump out like that.”

Mariner led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter but the Cougars began clawing closer, thanks to their long-distance shooting. Barron Collier, which connected on 12 3-pointers, seven in the second half, cut its deficit to eight points on a triple by junior guard Spencer Clayton with under six minutes to play.

Mariner answered with a pair of free throws by senior forward Kelvin Jimenez (14 points) and a 3-pointer by Hunter to push the lead back to double-digits and squash the threat of a Cougars’ comeback.

Clayton and junior guard Michael Crawford each scored 16 points for Barron Collier.

The Tritons will host Seminole (18-7), a 51-49 winner over Braden River, in Friday’s regional final. Mariner, which is 11-1 on its homecourt this season, will be playing for its first final four berth since 2017.

― Dan DeLuca

Class 4A-Region 3

Gateway 69, Brooksville Central 65 (2 OT)

As Michael Jackson’s Thriller played before the opening tip, little did fans know it was a prelude to what lay ahead.

Tavian Cook moonwalked Gateway (23-3) to a double overtime victory over a feisty Central squad to capture the Region 4A-3 semifinal at the Eagles home gym.

Early on both teams appeared unstoppable.

Gateway, led by Cook, scored at will in the lane while teammate Nehemiah Clermont bombed in threes to carry their team to an early 10-7 lead midway through the first quarter.

Central’s Ethan Bergantino responded with two threes of his own but the Eagles owned the first quarter leading 20-11 and looked ready to run away with the game.

Central buckled down defensively, slowing the pace of the game with Bergantino hitting a three to square the game at 32. 

A Clermont two and an Anjay Boyd three with five seconds left in the second quarter gave the Eagles a 37-32 cushion at the half.

Bergantino bombed in two more threes to open the third quarter giving the Bears the lead before picking up his fourth foul at the 4:22 mark when he sent the Eagles’ Christopher Davis to the line to shoot three.

Gateway buckled down defensively and suddenly the offensive display ground to a halt with Gateway taking a one-point lead into the final period.

Early in the fourth quarter, Bergantino fouled out with 21 points having hit five of seven from long range, a turning point for the game.

“That was a big factor because he was scoring,” said Eagles head coach Grady Lee.

It appeared Gateway had the game in hand, but Central’s David Villarroel and Jereon Watson kept their squad in the game as the Eagles countered with Cook who hit a three to put his team up by two with about four minutes to go.

Villarroel hit two free throws at the 2:01 mark to knot the game.

The Eagles tried to take advantage of a Central turnover but with less than three seconds on the clock Clermont missed 5-footer and it was timeout Central.

David Hagele hit the rim for the Bears as time expired and it was on to overtime.

Both teams decided to hold the ball in hopes that the other would make a mistake.  Only three shots were taken with Cook missing for the Eagles with less than two seconds to go and it was on to the second overtime.

That’s when Cook made a big steal laying the ball in and hitting a free throw at the 2:43 mark.

“His level of competitiveness is unmatched.  He plays so hard all the time, not only does he make the spectacular plays, he’s all over the court,” said Lee of Cook.

Gateway’s Andrew Leopold followed that play with a steal of his own going to the line and hitting one of two free throws.

It looked as though the game was in hand but Villaroel hit a couple of buckets while Gateway struggled at the line going 4-of-8 in the game’s final minute.

Villaroel hit a final three to keep Central close but Cook salted the game away with a final free throw with 9.5 seconds to go.

“They played a hell of a team, that was a battle man, that’s a great team, my hat’s off to them,” said Lee.

Cook ended the game with 23 points while Clermont finished with 15 and Leopold contributed 10.

― John Rinkenbaugh

Class 3A-Region 3

Gateway Charter 76, Tampa Catholic 74

The Griffins trailed the Crusaders for nearly 30 minutes on Tuesday night.

With their season on the line, the team saved their best ball for crunch time. Gateway Charter withstood a scoring barrage, made some big plays defensively, and rode senior Gabriel Timmons’ hot hand to advance to the Class 3A-Region 3 final for the first time in school history.

“I knew someone’s heart was going to hurt tonight pretty hard, and I was hoping it wasn’t ours,” Gateway Charter coach RJ Jones said.

After the Griffins worked hard to get ahead by 2 by the game’s final possession, Tampa Catholic’s Isaiah Campbell-Finch, the game’s leading scorer, drove to the basket and was denied by the long arm of Pat Johnson.

The block, followed by Timmons’ rebound, secured the win and sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

“Pat had a really bad back problem,” Jones said. “Barely could get out of bed this morning, couldn’t jog down the court about three hours before the game.”

Johnson, a walking double-double for the Griffins this season, stood behind the bench for the stretches when he wasn’t in the game. However, adrenaline took over in the fourth quarter as Johnson scored 6 points, including a putback dunk, and grabbed crucial rebounds.

“He was huge in the final minutes,” Jones said.

Tampa Catholic defeated Gateway Charter by more than 20 points in the same round last year and certainly looked to be on the verge of running away with the game in the first half.

Campbell-Finch showcased supreme athleticism as he cut to the basket for easy buckets again and again, while Colby Cannizzaro’s jump shot could not miss.

The Griffins did well to be down 48-38 at halftime given the Crusaders’ offensive efficiency.

“We went to a different sort of defense that helped us and helped make things really difficult for them,” Jones said, adding that Myles Jones was forced to learn a new defensive position on the fly.

Timmons faced off against Campbell-Finch and limited him to four points in the fourth quarter.

“Defensively, he went toe to toe with one of the best guards in the state, definitely one of the hardest scoring guards in the state,” Jones said.

Gateway Charter chipped away at the Tampa Catholic lead without the help of many splash plays. Timmons, especially, went to work around the rim, finishing the game with 30 points and 10 in the fourth quarter.

“Everybody was telling me, keep attacking, so I did,” he said. “The ball kept coming in my hands, so yeah.”

Timmons was coming off a 26-point performance to lead the team in the previous round against Bradenton Christian – his form and confidence clearly carried over.

“He’s a senior that doesn’t want it to end,” Jones said. “We tell Gabe all the time that he’s half the player he really could be. If he wants to be the best player in the area, it’s up to him, and I feel like, for whatever reason, these playoffs, he’s really just turned it on.”

Trailing by 5 points in the fourth quarter, Trey Fogle made one of the biggest plays when he was fouled on a layup and completed the 3-point play at the line. Johnson tied it with a layup, and the Griffins took a late lead when Timmons hit a pair of free throws.

Timmons came away with a steal on the next possession and scored with just over a minute remaining, getting the home crowd rocking as the comeback victory appeared viable.

There were plenty of nerves in the final minutes – after Campbell-Finch made it a 1-point game, the Griffins went 1-of-4 at the free throw line, ensuring the game would come down to the final possession.

Campbell-Finch had a game-high 32 points for Tampa Catholic, and the Griffins were not about to let that figure increase as their defense swarmed him in the game’s closing seconds.

“I thought all our boys were super gritty toward the end of the game,” Jones said. “We just played with a lot of heart and a lot of joy for each other, and I thought that was the difference for us.”

Fogle and Jones each scored 14 for the Griffins — a double-double for the latter with 10 rebounds — while Cannizzaro and Kenneth Morgan put up 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the Crusaders.

Reaching the regional final reinforces a tremendous turnaround for Gateway Charter in the last five years under Jones. The team was coming off a 4-21 season when he took over.

“Unbelievable feeling,” Jones said. “I know that we really wanted to do this. This was the goal, starting when we lost last year to Tampa Catholic. We wanted to get that get back. We really wanted to get the opportunity to get to the Final Four.”

That chance will come on Friday when they go on the road to face Berkeley Prep, the top seed in the region.

“It means a lot for us because it’s the first time in school history,” Timmons said. “Just got to make it count.”

― Dustin Levy

Berkeley Prep 46, First Baptist 36

Class 6A-Region 3

Charlotte 53, Fort Myers 29

When the same two teams met in the Class 6A-District 11 final less than two weeks ago, Fort Myers coach Keeth Jones said if Charlotte “makes 10 threes, we’re not going to win.”

The Tarpons made only one that night, struggling to pull away late for a 17-point win. But in the Region 6A-3 semifinals Tuesday night, Jones’ team wasn’t nearly as fortunate.

Not only did Dior Evans open the game with a 3-pointer – his only points of the night – but Charlotte made 9-of-19 treys and forced 26 turnovers, crushing the Green Wave in what might have been Jones’ last game on the bench.

“If (Charlotte) makes the shots, we don’t really have a chance,” Jones admitted. “We’re just not very big and we don’t score that much. On top of that, we were very, very sloppy tonight.”

Fort Myers (15-13) trailed only 14-9 after the first quarter but began to lose contact when junior Jordan Attia (15 points) nailed a three with 5:03 left in the half, then stole a pass and scored again to pad the Tarpons’ lead to 24-11. His driving layup moments later after the Green Wave’s 10th turnover made it 26-11.

So what changed so much in 11 days?

“We did the same routine, did all the same things,” said Charlotte coach Mike Williams.

“But our defense was phenomenal tonight, and I’ll bet we gave up 10-12 of those 29 points on offensive rebounds. It’s a testament to what we’ve been doing in practice and scouting. These kids are really dialed in right now.”

The Tarpons (17-10) have won 13 of 14 games after a 4-9 start and will be playing in their fourth regional final in five years when they visit top-seeded Tampa Leto at 7 p.m. Friday. All four games have been on the road, but they upset No. 1-ranked Tarpon Springs East Lake 59-56 three years ago to earn the school’s first trip to the Final Four.

“I think we might have felt more pressure in the district championship (game),” Attia said. “This time, we really had (Fort Myers) scouted well.”

Fellow junior Jahyere Chin led all scorers with 16 points, making 4-of-9 from the 3-point line, to help offset early foul trouble for both 6-foot-5 senior Chris Cornish and 6-8 junior Jordan Taylor. They managed just four points each.

Fort Myers was held without a field goal in the fourth quarter until senior Therry Theresius (12 points) scored at the final buzzer. The Tarpons began the period with a 12-0 run to make it 53-25 before MarQuille Tory’s two free throws with 2:09 remaining.

Chatter within SW Florida basketball circles that the 59-year-old Jones is stepping down after five seasons as the Green Wave’s head coach might or might not be accurate, but he insisted that no decision has been made.

“Hit me back about March 14. That’s when our banquet is,” he said.

Jones has coached in 35 state playoff games, leading Lake Wales to the Class 4A state championship in 2000 and guiding Mariner to the 6A final in 2017 before falling 57-53 to Leesburg. His teams have reached nine regional finals, and two of them – Rome (Ga.) and Lake Wales – have been ranked No. 1 in their states.

― Donnie Wilkie

Class 2A-Region 3

Tampa SLAM 74, St. John Neumann 26: The Celtics, the region's fourth seed, finished the season with a 15-12 record.

SOFTBALL

ECS 9, Barron Collier 1: Zoe Yzaguirre struck out 17 Cougars to pick up the win for the Sentinels, allowing just two hits and one earned run. Makayla Jakubuwski and Kiley Davie drove in two runs each and nine Sentinels scored runs. Gianna Frino broke up the shutout with a solo home run in the seventh.

Fort Myers 6, North Port 5: Fort Myers rallied from an early 4-1 deficit led by Sage Rodmyre who went 4 for 4 with 4 RBI, including a 2-run home run.  Tegan Webb added two hits, and Daciana Harvey scored twice for the Green Wave. Alexa Bent earned the win with two innings of shut-out relief pitching.

SFCA 15, Sarasota Christian 0 (3 inn.): Braelyn Davis was the winning pitcher for SFCA, striking out 9 batters and allowing zero hits and one walk in 3 innings. The King’s were led at the plate by Anastin Hanson who had 2 hits and 3 RBI. Adrianna Thorne also contributed 2 RBI and scored 2 runs and Candice Chime had a triple and 3 runs scored.

Riverdale 18, Clewiston 1: Madison Schmidt (3 runs), Sara Hall (3 runs, 2 RBI), and Moriah English (2 RBI) had three hits apiece for the Raiders (1-0).

BASEBALL

SFCA 8, Oasis 1: Eli Moore threw four innings, allowing a hit and no runs with five strikeouts, and went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and RBI. Aiden Maytas went 4-for-4 with a home run, 2 RBI, and 2 runs.

Bishop Verot 17, Gateway Charter 0: Blake Lavenia struck out 8 over four innings for the win. Owen Rardin went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and 2 runs, Maddix Simpson went 4-for-5 with 5 RBI and three runs and Braylon Sheffield went 2-for-4 with 4 RBI.

GIRLS LACROSSE

Fort Myers 10, Cape Coral 3: Cape Coral goalie Paige Williams had 10 saves and goals were scored by AJ Cudnik, who also had one assist, and two by Mikala Allen, who also had an assist.

Gateway 12, Immokalee 1: Senior midfielder Ellie Vertrees scored 4 goals and dished out 2 assists to lead the Eagles. Sophomore Amadis Bocalandro scored 3 goals, junior Eliana Chickk added 2, and senior Makayla Garay,  junior Ilyana Sterrett, and freshman Malay Joseph each added a goal.

Aubrey Rogers 10, Estero 6

Boys Lacrosse

Fort Myers 14, Immokalee 6: Ivan Jimenez and Juan Vasquez scored three goals each for Immokalee.

MONDAY

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Class 5A-Region 3

Lely 53, Parrish Community 40

PARRISH — If two things propelled the Lely High girls basketball team through its current winning streak it is defense and togetherness.

In winning their 15th straight game, the Trojans held Parrish Community without a field goal for the final 4 minutes, 37 seconds of a 53-40 victory in the Class 5A-Region 3 semifinal Monday evening at the Bulls gym.

“Defense wins championships,” Lely coach Jalen Outten said. “Everybody knows that.” 

The fourth-seeded Trojans (20-8) advance to the regional final for the first time since 1977 when it visits third-seeded Port Charlotte High, a 54-44 winner at second-seeded Clearwater High, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Tony Cicchella Gymnasium.

Top-seeded Parrish Community saw its winningest season in the five-year history of the program come to an end at 18-8. And there were many reasons why.

The Bulls were 12-for-32 from the foul line, 3-for-14 in the first half. 

“We left 22 points on the board,” Parrish Community coach Kristy Cummins said. “It’s probably the worst we’ve shot from the free-throw line all year long. It was the wrong day for that.”

Second-leading scorer Sarah Decker spent more time on the bench with foul trouble than on the floor. She fouled out with 3:20 left in the game with five points, nine below her average.

“She was on the bench the majority of the game. She couldn’t get in any type of flow,” Cummins said. “You have to go with the flow and keep fighting, and that’s what we did.”

The helter-skelter, choppy game lacked flow throughout. There were 50 fouls called, 29 against Lely, in the loud gymnasium. There were substitutions on nearly every dead ball.

The game opened with the Trojans scoring the first points of the game in the Parrish Community basket.

Lely went 9:51 without a field goal during a stretch from the first to the second quarter.

The Trojans opened leads of 29-21 and 34-25 in the third quarter only to have the Bulls close to within 40-39 on a layup by Mary Portwood with 4:37 left.

Lely then put the game away with a 10-0 run: a free throw by Fara Louissaint, seven straight points by Sofiia Kiritsa, who led all scorers with 26 points, and two free throws by Oleksandra Rubanova, who finished with 13 points.

“My assistant coaches scouted them,” Outten said. “We got film on them and they gave me the scouting report. My assistant coaches did a helluva job preparing the kids.”

Parrish Community also had a good scoring report, but missing 20 free throws and turning the ball over due to Lely’s pressure defense negates much of the preparation.

“We knew the difference in the game was us being able to control the ball and keep the ball in our hands and not get into a running game,” Cummins said. “We had too many turnovers compared to the last few games. 

“In the first half those free throws not going in was crucial.”

Portwood led the Bulls with 13 points.

“We play defense,” Outten said. “We held 10 (Portwood) down and took 32 (Decker) out of the game and played defense.”

The Trojans did a little team bonding Sunday night, heading to Miami for the Hurricanes women’s basketball game against Florida State.

“Besides the defense, this team is close,” Outten said. 

— Dennis Maffezzoli

Class 2A-Region 3

St. John Neumann 68, Seacrest Country Day 42

After two close games between St. John Neumann and Seacrest Country Day School earlier in the year, the third meeting was much easier for the Celtics on Monday night.

Sydney Martin led Neumann with 18 points as Neumann breezed to a region semifinal win at home, 68-42.

The Stingrays kept it close for a long while, but then the third quarter was pretty much all Neumann, as the Celtics now sit just one win away from the state’s Final Four. Neumann will meet Evangelical Christian in the 2A-3 final on Thursday night.

“We played a lot of changing defenses, and I think that confused Seacrest,” said Neumann coach John Wholihan. “The defense for us worked well tonight, and it helped give us points. And we had some players like Gracyn Crosby and Sydney Martin who stepped up.”

Gracyn Crosby added 16 points in the win for Neumann (23-3), while Mylee Van de Wouw also added 15 points and Sophia McCartney had 12. Madison D’Elia led Seacrest (22-6) with 17 points. Ty'Nazia Smith had 10.

The second half was one that was strong for the Celtics, holding Seacrest to 17 points in the second half.

“The 1-3-1 defense did it for us in the third quarter,” Wholihan said. “The defense got us some fastbreak baskets. And we went inside a lot and that helped us get some free throws.”

Seacrest coach Nikita Carty was furious after the game at the disparity between fouls whistled on the Celtics and his Stingrays.

“I felt the girls played hard tonight, but we weren’t treated fairly here tonight,” Carty said. “Just look at the foul count and free-throw count. We get treated unfairly every time we come to St. John Neumann and something has to be done about it. I appreciate all the things the girls do, but it seems like we never get treated fairly here. In the district title game, St. John Neumann had 22 free throws, and we had none. It’s not fair.”

The Celtics got off to a six-point lead early in the game, but a Stingray 9-0 run took away the momentum. Martin was sent to the free throw line six times in the first quarter, and she made five. With one quarter complete the score was tied 13-13 after a steal and breakaway layup by Van de Wouw in the last seconds.

Neumann began to take control of the game in the second quarter, amassing an eight-point lead at one juncture. But the Seahawks closed the first half still in contention, down only 30-25 as the teams went to the locker rooms.

The teams started slow in the third quarter, as they combined for only two points through the first 2 1/2 minutes. But the Celtics came on strong from 3-point land and Neumann again assumed control and led 50-33 after three.

— Tom Corwin

Evangelical Christian 65, Keswick Christian 50

When the Evangelical Christian girls basketball team starts running, it's hard to slow the Sentinels down.

After missing its first seven shots, Kellisia Grant got ECS rolling with two quick fastbreak layups and Keswick Christian could do little to stop the Sentinels in a 65-50 Region 2A-3 semifinal win.

“(Grant) was huge early getting to the basket on them and really, you know, when you can get to the basket like that and get points in the paint so early in the game it does set the tone for the game,” ECS coach Dwayne Donnell said.

Grant’s quick four points and seven total in the quarter sparked a 19-6 run that included more layups plus 3-pointers by Zaire Mitchell, Jadah Toombs and Hayden Hendrik at the buzzer as ECS built a 20-10 lead after one quarter.

“That's our game plan,” said ECS’ Maddie O’Berski, who only scored two of her nine points in the first quarter but had at least six rebounds in the frame and played tough defense. “I mean, we go hard, we go fast and we make them so out of breath they can't run up and down the court.”

Toombs scored seven of her 13 points in the second quarter as ECS built a 35-18 lead at the half which grew to 54-29 after three.

The only time ECS got in trouble was when they slowed down. After winning its previous eight games by an average of 48 points, the Sentinels seemed destined to be close to that again, but Keswick (23-5) wouldn’t yield and came out hard in the fourth quarter. Ava Graham scored nine of her game-high 26 points in the final frame for the Crusaders, who outscored ECS 21-11.

Mitchell worked hard on the offensive boards in the final frame, drawing fouls and hitting her team's only field goal of the quarter as she scored seven of her team-high 18 points in the stanza.

“It's analytics,” Donnell said. “They slow down and we do bad things when we slow down. I tried to semi-slow down and we still did bad things. If you watch us when we play full speed it’s different. You’re trying to play the clock and trying to do other things and it got us in some bad situations. Kids made some bad errors but in a big game and we got to be able to take a little time off that clock so we can't just wait to get there to practice it.”

ECS (23-3) will face St. John Neumann, which they beat by 25 earlier this season, on Thursday for a chance to return to the state Final Four.

“They say we're the best two teams in Southwest Florida, they say we're the best two teams in the area for the state so we'll find out on Thursday,” Donnell said. “We're excited about it being at our home place, and we expect to win that game as well.”

— Ed Reed

Class 3A-Region 3

Tampa Catholic 60, Bishop Verot 32

Caroline Ward scored 16 points and Cameron O’Halloran 10 as the Vikings finished their season with a 21-7 record.

— Staff Reports

BASEBALL

St. John Neumann 3, Manatee 0: Baserunners came at a premium in this game, but the Neumann pitching staff allowed just seven baserunners over the course of the game. Trevor Nikolis pitched four shutout innings with four strikeouts, while Ryder Woodson notched the save. At the plate, Nick Frontino went 1-for-2 with 3 RBI.

Charlotte 8, Mariner 0: Xavier Muentes collected the only hit for the Tritons.