High school sports schedule, results: Boys Basketball starts with holiday tournaments
Heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, we have a full week of high school boys and girls basketball games in the area. The boys season kicks off with the Wildwood Classic where West Port, Dunnellon and Forest all open up their seasons with out-of-town opponents.
The girls will travel to Wildwood as well where we get the first matchup of Dunnellon and Forest's explosive backcourts. The day after Thanksgiving, West Port will go to Orlando for the 15th annual Florida Prospects tournament.
Can't make a game? No problem. Visit this page everyday for updates on your favorite teams and sports. We'll track down all the action so you don't have to.
Email your results and highlights, and schedule changes, to apettigrew@gannett.com.
Girls Basketball
Monday, Nov. 21
Dunnellon defeats Wiregrass Ranch 60-50 at Wildwood Hoopsgiving
Tatiana Matthews has an offensive explosion for her second 40-plus point game of the season with 43. Senior teammate K'Mari Williams scored 18 points and added a game high six assists.
Wildwood defeats Forest at Wildwood Hoopsgiving
In the battle of the Wildcats, Forest fell short in a close, rugged game. Wildwood's Trinidy Harris had a game-high 20 points. Forest junior Taleah Jones led her team with 15 points.
Tuesday, Nov. 22
Forest defeats Dunnellon 58-51 at Wildwood Hoopsgiving
In a tight game, Forest took down the Tigers for its second win of the season. Freshman Ja'Niyah McCoy led the Wildcats, scoring a season-high 21 points and junior Taleah Jones added 17. Senior Emonie Sapp cleared a game-high 12 rebounds and scored eight points. For the Tigers, Tatiana Matthews scored a game-high 28 points, with eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals. K'Mari Williams had 16 points and 5 assists. Matthews and Nia Heppner combined for four blocks.
Jacksonville Providence defeats Trinity Catholic 49-47
Providence ended Trinity Catholic's two-game win streak. Junior Heaven Sanders scored a team-high 15 points while shooting three of seven from deep and dropping two assists. Aariana Rose Gravel-Holtzclaw had 10 points and 10 rebounds in her season debut. Delaney Baker dished out a game-high four assists to go with six rebounds and six points.
West Port at Mater Brighton Lakes Academy, 5 p.m.
St. John defeats Bishop McLaughlin 34-8
Senior Jeinaliesse Alicea scored a game-high 17 points and added eight steals. Juniors Isabel Freeman and Arisa Ford each grabbed nine rebounds. Saints senior Julia Brookins blocked three shots.
Friday, Nov. 25
West Port vs Boone at Florida Prospects, noon
Saturday, Nov. 26
West Port vs opponent TBA at Florida Prospects, TBD
Boys Basketball
Monday, Nov. 21
Lake Weir defeats Steinbrenner 52-49 at Wildwood Hoopsgiving
Jordan Gimenez had a heroic 29 points, knocking down clutch free throws to keep Lake Weir in the lead. Amari Kiner added 15 points for the winners.
Lake Howell defeats West Port 47-28 at Wildwood Hoopsgiving
The Wolf Pack struggled to find their offensive footing in their season debut. Junior Demetrius Brown led West Port with 12 points.
Forest defeats Armwood 67-48 at Wildwood Hoopsgiving
The Wildcats looked like a well oiled machine. Tae Floyd led the scoring party with 16 points and Matt Daniels was close behind with 14. Xzavion McCoy orchestrated the offense with 11 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Oak Hall at St. John Lutheran, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 22
Fort Lauderdale Archbishop McCarthy defeats West Port 71-58 at Wildwood Hoopsgiving
The Wolf Pack improved their offensive output but it wasn't enough to knock out the Mavericks. West Port dropped its second game of the season.
Orlando Downey Christian defeats Lake Weir 81-40 at Wildwood Hoopsgiving
Senior Jordan Gimenez scored a team-high 16 points for the Hurricanes.
Springstead defeats Trinity Catholic 51-36
Trinity Catholic drops its season opener to Springstead.
Forest defeats Wiregrass Ranch 79-58 at Wildwood Hoopsgiving,
The Wildcats' speed killed Wiregrass Ranch. X'Zavion McCoy paced all scorers with 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Tae Floyd scored 17 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Xavier Kirkpatrick scored a season-high 16 points and added seven assists.
Dunnellon defeats Belleview 81-71
Sean Simpson scored a game-high 21 points in Belleview's season opener. Sophomore Tre'quori Rollerson went for 19 points in his varsity debut. Eli Nelson scored 11 points while grabbing team-high seven rebounds and two blocks.
St. John defeats Spring Hill Bishop McLaughlin Catholic 54-52
The Saints take the narrow win over Bishop McLaughlin.
Friday, Nov. 25
Dunnellon Holiday Classic
Saturday, Nov. 26
Dunnellon Holiday Classic
Bell at Belleview, noon
Trinity Catholic vs Eastside at neutral site event, 4:30 p.m.
Forest vs. Columbia at Williston’s Mighty Ike, 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Holiday tournaments usher in Marion County Boys Basketball season
