HS Roundup: Maddie Leslie's 23 points lead Gulf Coast in 61-24 rout of ECS

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A roundup of games played on Saturday, Jan. 22 and Monday, Jan. 24:

Girls Basketball

Gulf Coast 61, ECS 24

The Gulf Coast girls delivered a major statement Monday night.

In a game of the two top teams in Southwest Florida, the Sharks blew out ECS, and it wasn't close. Gulf Coast won by a 37-point margin over the Sentinels, who struggled all night at getting anything going offensively until garbage time.

"We've played coach (Dwayne) Donnell at Dunbar," Sharks coach Mark Woodruff said. "We've seen ECS play a few times this year. We knew they were a very talented team, so if we let them into this game we'd have to work really hard. We wanted to come in and take care of business.

"We knew we could keep them in front of us. Their strength is getting to the basket. We just preached moving our feet, staying in front, and making them shoot over the top of us."

The Sharks opened the first 9:36 on a 21-2 run to build a healthy lead. That was in part due to clutch shooting from beyond the arc by Maddie Leslie, Kaylee Travlos, and Katie Ambrose. In the third quarter, Gulf Coast led by 46 and was flirting with making it a 50-point game.

"Everyone played their role," Woodruff added. "Our shooters knocked down shots, our defenders locked down, our bigs rebounded and scored. It was a total team effort."

Leslie finished with a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds, nearly eclipsing what ECS had as a unit. Travlos had 14 points, while Ambrose finished with seven points and four rebounds.

"I'm ashamed to be their coach," Donnell said after the loss. "We weren't prepared. I have to do a better job of telling my kids that there are better teams in the world.

"You ever get your butt whooped? That was a butt-whooping. When you get your butt whooped, you have to take your medicine and come back tomorrow. They were better than us, and we just didn't play well at all."

At halftime, Gulf Coast led 38-9, as Leslie had 16 points at the break. She lauded the team's ability to create shots, regardless of who has the ball in their hands.

"It's amazing," Leslie said of the team's shot creation. "We all have talented players on our team. Anyone can hit the shot, and just knowing that we have chemistry and we value the great shot over the good shot is what really makes our team great."

China Jenkins had another double-double for ECS, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Reese Tremitiere was limited to just four points because the Sentinels triple-teamed her at times offensively, but managed to bring down 12 rebounds while blocking three shots.

"They love to compete," Woodruff said. "As I said, we had a whole nother gear. We didn't know if it was there, and we got there tonight. All cylinders, all facets of the game.

"We reached a whole nother level for the playoffs. That's what we need to do to get to playoff levels."

Gulf Coast (19-3) has 24 hours until they'll face Fort Myers (14-7), while ECS will host Golden Gate Tuesday night.

— Alex Martin

St. John Neumann 41, FBA 33: The Celtics got back in the win column over the weekend against the Lions, as Leah Martin-Gonzales had a game-high 14 points in the win. In the loss for FBA, Grace Dean had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Golden Gate 57, Cape Coral 43: The Titans got a key win, thanks to Mikayla Jaramillo's 21 points, including five treys made. Gabby Wetzel added 16, while Mariah Williams finished with 10.

CSN 47, Oasis 23: In the loss for the Sharks, Bethany Cabral led the way with eight points.

Boys Basketball

Lehigh 83, Cypress Lake 36: Cam Humphrey led the Lightning with 17 points and eight steals, Jose Constanza hit a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Angel Pagan added 10 points

CSN 78, Marco Island 40: Jackson McAdams scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, Stefano Schmeiding added 14 points and nine rebounds, Aidan Doyle dished nine assists, and team manager Richard Mao hit two 3-pointers.

Follow Southwest Florida Sports Writer Alex Martin on Twitter: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: HS Roundup: Gulf Coast dominates ECS in clash of top teams in SWFL