PREP ROUNDUP: Charlotte turns back Port Charlotte in boys hoops
PORT CHARLOTTE
In the latest edition of the big rivalry, the Charlotte High boys basketball team made the plays down the stretch and came away with a 49-43 victory over Port Charlotte in front of a packed house at the newly minted Bill Specht Court at Tony Cicchella Gymnasium.
After the Pirates pulled to within 44-43 with 75 seconds remaining, the Tarpons’ Jordany Reyes Sanchez dropped in two free throws with 22.3 seconds left. After a Port Charlotte miss at an attempt to tie the game, Koen Lockett followed in a missed free throw and converted a three-point play for the final margin.
Senior Logan Clauser dropped in 16 points and Lockett added 11 points, nine in the fourth quarter for the Tarpons. Port Charlotte received 15 points from senior Alex Perry and 14 points from freshman Khyrie Ellis.
The Pirates (2-2) return to action Thursday at Venice. Charlotte (2-2) faces Pembroke Pines Charlotte in the City of Palms Premiere on Saturday at South Fort Myers High.
Charlotte takeaways
• Tom Massolio likes his defense, which is allowing an average of 50 points in the first four games against some quality teams. The Tarpons have held three teams in the 40s. “We did a good job of making defensive adjustments,” said the dean of area coaches. “We’re a really good defensive team. We are way, way better than we were a year ago. We can score better last year, but our defense has been great. Tonight we switched it up with our full-court press and that made a big difference in the second half.”
• John Gamble picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the third quarter. His fourth came 1:57 into the period. Massolio substituted the junior forward, mainly getting him on the court in offensive situations and keeping him on the bench when Charlotte was on defense when he could. Gamble ended with four points, all in the first half, but did not foul out. “That says a lot,” Massolio said. “There’s a lot of emotion out there with him. I’m very happy and I will make sure I say that to him tonight.”
• Both coaches came away impressed with their defenses, mainly because both sides knew pretty much exactly what the other side was going to do. “Nobody really ran anything and got points,” Massolio said.
Port Charlotte takeaways
• The game plan worked for the Pirates. The problem came with the execution, especially on offense. “We did everything we were supposed to do,” Port Charlotte coach Kip Rhoten said. “They just didn’t take care of the ball. And you’ve got to take care of the ball. We turned the ball over.”
• Perry and junior Caleb Campos were the only Pirates to play in a varsity game against Charlotte. So there was plenty of valuable experience to gain. “We had three freshmen on the court at times,” Rhoten said. “They were put into the spot. We’ll take a lot from this and learn from it.”
• Port Charlotte scored the first seven points of the evening and was up by six midway through the third quarter. But Rhoten was especially pleased how his club responded when it went down 42-34 with 3:10 to play. Perry and Ellis hit 3-pointers, and the Pirates eventually got to within a point. “They were disappointed because it was a rival,” Rhoten said. “But when they walked out of here, they had a sense of we’re going to be OK, if we just keep working.”
Riverview 61, North Port 50
TOP PLAYERS: R, Jason Jackson (23 points), Jamier Jones (15 points), Pete Goldberg (7 assists); NP, Maxx Huml (13 points), Logan King (9 points)
RECORD: Riverview (3-1)
NEXT: Riverview at Lakewood Ranch on Thursday; North Port at Sarasota on Friday.
Southeast 57, Palmetto 47
TOP PLAYERS: S, Karmani Gregory (21 points), Malik Banks (14 points), Rayshaun Dallas (10 points); P, Biscuit Jones (12 points), Duke Timmons (12 points)
North Tampa Christian Academy 55, Sarasota Christian 53
TOP PLAYERS: SC, Adam Bassil (20 points), Brian Hershberger (12 points), Drew Yoder (8 points)
RECORDS: North Tampa Christian Academy (3-3), Sarasota Christian (2-3)
NEXT: St. Petersburg Canterbury at Sarasota Christian 7 p.m. Friday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Riverview 71, Sarasota 32
AT: Sarasota High School
TOP PLAYERS: R, Caroline King (17 points), Sami Slusarek (15 points), Shelby Liashek (8 points), Amiya Lloyd (7 points), Myah Hagan (6 points), S, Madison Macdonald (15 points, 7 rebounds), Shay Farley (7 points, 7 rebounds), Alyssia Bane (4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)
RECORDS: Sarasota (1-6), Riverview (6-0)
NEXT: Sarasota at Manatee 6 p.m. Thursday
Manatee 50, Hardee 26
AT: Manatee
TOP PLAYERS: Manatee: Ty Barclay (21 points, 14 rebounds), Sydney Jones (8 points, 8 rebounds)
RECORDS: Manatee (6-1), Hardee (0-8)
NEXT: Sarasota at Manatee, 6 p.m. Thursday
Lemon Bay 50, Bayshore 35
TOP PLAYERS: LB, Taylor Orris (12 points), Maya Collins (11 points), Bre Carroll (9 points)
OF NOTE: Lemon Bay scored the first 14 points of the game.
RECORD: Lemon Bay (3-3)
NEXT: Lemon Bay at DeSoto County on Thursday
Cardinal Mooney 70, Academy of the Holy Names 49
AT: Academy of the Holy Names, Tampa
TOP PLAYER: CM, Jordyn Byrd (20 points, 23 rebounds)
RECORD: Cardinal Mooney (6-1)
NEXT: South Fort Myers at Cardinal Mooney on Friday
GIRLS SOCCER
Parrish Community 4, Manatee 1
TOP PLAYERS: P, Kendall Hecht (3 goals, 1 assist) Madelyn Portwood (assist), Ashley Wright (assist), Brianne Bonzheim (assist), Ashley Wright (goal)
GOALIE: P, Brooke Gillaspy (10 saves)
RECORD: Parrish (7-0-1)
Bayshore 5, Sarasota Military Academy 1
AT: Bayshore High
TOP PLAYERS: B, Ja’lynn Sanders (2 goals, 1 assist), Alaina Karkoff (2 goals, 1 assist), Genesis Garcia (1 goal).
RECORD; Bayshore (5-0-1)
NEXT: Bayshore at DeSoto County 5 p.m. Friday
Imagine School at North Port 6, Bradenton Christian 2
TOP PLAYERS: ISNP, Maddie Wiggin (3 goals, 1 assist), Addy Rattai (1 goal, 1 assist), Hailey Sauline(1 goal), Stella Tracy (1goal). Mallory Gordon (2 assists), Addy Rattai (1)
Riverview 2, Cardinal Mooney 1
AT: Riverview HS
TOP PLAYERS: R, Jane Kitchner (2 goals), Mairead Dempsey (1 assist)
RECORD: Riverview (4-4), Cardinal Mooney (2-4)
NEXT: Riverview at Venice, 7 p.m. Thursday
BOYS SOCCER
Parrish Community 8, Winthrop College Prep Academy 2
AT: Parrish Community
TOP PLAYERS: P, Joshua Lainez-Oviedo (4 goals), Adrian Strunk (1 goal), Eddie Abonce (1 goal), Jair Graci (1 goal), Santiago Bernabe-Hernandez (1 goal), David Maghtha (2 assist)
OF NOTE: Parrish is unbeaten in four matches
RECORDS: Parrish (4-4-2), Winthrop (0-5-2)
NEXT: Out-of-Door at Parrish Community, 6 p.m. Friday
Dennis Maffezzoli is the deputy sports editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and chief reporter for Sarasota Herald-Tribune and HTpreps covering Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: PREP ROUNDUP: Charlotte turns back Port Charlotte in boys hoops
