PREP ROUNDUP: Parrish Community uses early jolt to top Lemon Bay
PARRISH — The Parrish Community girls basketball team jumped out to an early lead and kept an arm’s length away from visiting Lemon Bay High in a 52-42 victory Friday evening.
Three players did all of the scoring for the Bulls. Sophomore Mary Portwood led the way with 26, getting at least six points in each quarter. Seniors Marish Martinez and Nariah Sparkman contributed 14 points.
The Manta Rays were led by sophomore Taylor Orris, who scored 20 points. Maya Collins chipped in with 12 points for Lemon Bay.
Winners of four straight and 12 of 13, Parrish Community (13-2) returns to action at 6 p.m. Tuesday at home against Sarasota Christian School. The Manta Rays (9-9) also play 6 p.m. Tuesday at North Port High. It will be the ninth straight road game for Lemon Bay, which also had a road game Thursday at Out-of-Door Academy before returning home Friday against Venice High.
Lemon Bay takeaways
• The Manta Rays, who opened with two freshmen, a sophomore, junior and senior, did not score for the first 3 minutes, 55 seconds, and the early 10-0 hole proved fatal throughout. “That’s freshmen being freshmen,” said Lemon Bay coach Jason Jones, whose team is ranked 37th in Class 4A by MaxPreps. “We’re so young. We’re not very strong yet. We’re skilled, but we’re not strong with the basketball. That cost us. We’ll get over that.”
• After being behind double digits most of the game, Lemon Bay used pressure defense to get within six at 44-38 with 6:12 left in regulation. “We probably should have started that earlier, but we usually do that after a make,” Jones said.
• Collins, the Manta Rays leading scorer, was in early foul trouble and sat for most of the first half, leading to the offensive drought. “She’s a freshman,” Jones said. “She doesn’t understand the value of her being on the floor. That’s a learning process. She’s going to be a great player for us. We’re all learning.”
Parrish Community takeaways
• Ranked 31st in Class 4A according to MaxPreps, the Bulls have made it a point of emphasis to get off to quicker starts. Parrish Community scored the first 10 points of the game. “As of late, that’s been a focus for us,” Coach Kristy Hebert said. “Try to get off to a quick start and stay stable after that, stay under control. Let our defense go to work and help us get the win.”
• Besides the big three in scoring, the other players, like starters Sarah Decker and Saniyah Hines and reserves Kalli Lyons and Jada Scott, who did not make an impression on the scorebook impressed Hebert. “They had the points, but we had some really good rebounding by our big people underneath, giving them second and third shots. Even when they went to a diamond-and-2 on us, the other girls did a good job of stepping up to make sure the other girls were open.”
• The main key to the Bulls’ early success this season is their depth. With a balanced roster of four seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen, Hebert is not afraid to go to the bench. “We’ve been able to keep fresh legs, knowing we can bring people off the bench and get good minutes. We’ve had different starting lineups all year long, depending on who we are playing. The girls understand that and have each other’s back.”
Lakewood Ranch 39 North Port 37
TOP PLAYERS: LR, Elainna Villegas (9 points) Sara Leonardis (7 points)
NEXT: Lakewood Ranch at Sarasota on Tuesday
Sarasota 60, Davenport Ridge Community 29
AT: Lakewood St. Pete in MLK Tourney
TOP PLAYERS: S, Ava Sims (15 points), Ghita DiNota (14 points), Alyssia Bane (12 points), Shay Farley (8 points)
RECORDS: Sarasota (5-12), Ridge Community (3-9)
NEXT: Sarasota vs. Winter Haven, 1:30 in MLK Tourney at Lakewood St. Pete
Booker 62, Wauchula Hardee County 20
TOP PLAYERS: B, Leah DuBose (11 points), Jakai Peterson (9 points), Jaida Cunningham (11 points)
NEXT: Cardinal Mooney at Booker, 6 p.m. Monday
GIRLS SOCCER
Parrish Community 2, Braden River 0
AT: Parrish
GOALS: Krystal Parra, Hayden Lepley
ASSISTS: Parra
GOALIE: P, Avaya Wright (8 saves).
RECORD: Parrish (15-0-1)
BOYS BASKETBALL
Sarasota Christian 61, Out-of-Door Academy 37
AT: Out-of-Door Academy
TOP PLAYERS: SC, Drew Yoder (26 points), Adam Bassil (12 points), Tyler Klinger (9 points), Ben Papineau (8 points), Brian Hershberger (6 points); ODA, Henry Ye (11 points), Kevin O’Donaghue (6 points)
RECORDS: Sarasota Christian (8-7), Out-of-Door (5-11)
NEXT: Sarasota Christian at Brandon Academy, 5 p.m. Tuesday
Venice 80, Sarasota 69
TOP PLAYERS: S, Larsen Carr (14 points), Sean Collier (12 points), Nate Johnson (11 points)
North Port 57, Booker 52
TOP PLAYERS: NP, Elijah Lubsey (16 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists) James King (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals), Joey Rivera (10 points, 2 assists) Maxx Huml (11 points, 3 assists)
Cardinal Mooney 44, Bradenton Christian 41
TOP PLAYERS: CM, AJ Russo (12 points), Connor Heald (7 points), Peter Liashek (6 points)
NEXT: Lemon Bay vs. Cardinal Mooney
Southeast 78, Palmetto 60
TOP PLAYERS: SE, Karmani Gregory 21 points), Malik Banks (16 points), Brent Prater 16 points), Daniel Mendoza 14 points)
BOYS SOCCER
Lakewood Ranch 7 Lakeland George Jenkins 1
AT: Lakewood Ranch High
GOALS: LR, Johnathan Klein 2, Nicholas DeSouza 2, Dylan Reiser 2, Felipe Desouza,
ASSISTS: LR, Felipe DeSouza, Diego Freyre, Luca Ruis, Joseph Villasi, Cody Conway
GOALIES: LR, Josh McManis (2 saves), Noah Rueping (2 saves)
RECORD; Lakewood Ranch (13-1-1)
NEXT: Lakewood Ranch at Wesley Chapel Cypress Creek, 7 p.m. Tuesday
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: Parrish Community uses early jolt to top Lemon Bay
