PREP ROUNDUP: Saint Stephen's goes wire-to-wire in win over Venice

VENICE — The Saint Stephen’s Episcopal girls basketball team led from start to finish and posted a 55-49 victory over Venice High on Wednesday night at the Teepee.

The Falcons (11-6) scored the first six points of the game and never looked back.

Seniors Jamie Springstead scored 32 points, and Maddy Boehm added 15 points and seven assists for Saint Stephen’s.

Venice received 17 points from sophomore Makenna Wright.

Venice (9-5) is on the road Thursday at North Fort Myers. Winners of six straight, the Falcons play in the Sunshine State Athletic Conference playoffs 1 p.m. Friday against Tampa Patel in the semifinals in Orlando. A win places Saint Stephen’s in Saturday’s championship game.

Saint Stephen’s takeaways

• One of the few starters who has not been injured this season, Springstead made 15-of-18 from the line. She had all nine of the Falcons’ points in the fourth quarter. Springstead has been the steady force throughout the season. “It’s my senior year and I’m trying to play as hard as I can,” Springstead said.

• Boehm missed four weeks with a pressure fracture in her wrist likely during volleyball season. She played through it for a long time, including the first six games of the basketball season, but discovered the injury untying her shoelace. Boehm spent the time away from the court coaching and lifting morale from the bench. “Now that I’m back, I feel that we’ve clicked,” she said. “We’re ready.”

• Ranked 155th in the state and 25th in Class 3A by MaxPreps and 143 in the FHSAA RPI power rankings, the Falcons may have starting freshman guard Ava Rogers (wrist) back for the weekend or shortly thereafter. With injured players out, senior Nikole Cosentino and juniors Megan Wolfe and Mia Ferdinand have stepped up in their absence. “Injuries during the season have helped the other players come on,” Saint Stephen’s coach David Gaulman said. “Mia is a full-time tennis player, but she comes and gives us a ton of energy. She sets the tone and has been setting the tone defensively.”

Venice takeaways

• Venice did not score for the first 6 minutes, 53 seconds of the game, but pulled to within 16-14 on a layup by Wright. Saint Stephen’s then reeled off the next 11 points and held a double-digit lead until the final 26 seconds. “We just couldn’t get it going in the first,” said Venice coach Jeremy Martin, whose club trailed 8-4 after the first eight minutes. “The first was the worst basketball I’ve seen in my life.”

• The rough play continued throughout as Venice missed a bushel of layups and had trouble defending Saint Stephen’s in the paint, resulting in easy baskets or free throws for the Falcons. “No. 11 (Boehm) had a helluva game. We lost her,” Martin said. “But we just missed too many shots.”

• Ranked 49th in Florida and 10th in 7A by MaxPreps and 43rd in the FHSAA RPI power rankings, Venice was without freshmen starters Zoe O’Leary and Tessa O’Leary due to illness and played Jayda Lanham despite her illness because of foul trouble. Before the game, Venice honored seniors Mickey Carr and Ella Opsatnick. “It’s just a mental day; that’s the problem,” Martin said. “It’s just hard.”

BOYS BASKETBALL

Palmetto 79, Lakewood Ranch 68

TOP PLAYERS: P, Adonis Moise (18 points), Duke Timmons (12 points)

OF NOTE: Palmetto has won 10 of its past 11 games.

Southeast 69, St. Stephen’s 46

TOP PLAYERS: SE, Karmani Gregory (25 points), Malik Banks (24 points), Rayshaun Dallas (9 points); SS, Ty Perkins (9 points), Mike Konkil (7 points)

Sarasota 50, North Port 44

TOP PLAYERS: S, Brian Halloran (10 points)

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: Saint Stephen's goes wire-to-wire in win over Venice