PREP ROUNDUP: Strong third quarter leads Cardinal Mooney past Booker
SARASOTA — The Cardinal Mooney Catholic girls basketball team rode a good start to the second half and held off a late Booker High surge to post a 57-51 victory over the Tornadoes in the MLK Classic at Tornado Alley.
Freshman Kari Barrett led the Cougars with 21 points. She had a personal 9-0 run in the second quarter, canning three consecutive 3-pointers in a 1-minute, 28-second stretch. Junior Olivia Davis contributed 13 points for the winners.
Booker got 11 points from junior Chariot Johnson. Juniors Leah DuBose and Kymani Freeman each finished with eight points.
Booker (11-6) travels to Braden River at 7:30 p.m. today; Cardinal Mooney (13-3) will play in the Carrollwood Day Showcase this weekend in Tampa. The Cougars will face 19-1 Daytona Beach DME Academy at 4:40 p.m. Friday and 13-3 Montverde Academy at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Cardinal Mooney takeaways
• The Cougars scored the first 11 points of the third quarter to increase a five-point halftime lead to 43-27. “We’ve had a tendency to have a slow start at the beginning of games and to start the second half, so it’s something we are addressing,” Cardinal Mooney coach Rico Antonio said.
• Ranked 10th in Florida and second in Class 3A — behind only Tampa Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate — and eighth in the FHSAA RPI power rankings, Mooney allowed three Booker putbacks in the first half, including two to close the second quarter. The Cougars did a better job on defensive rebounding in the second half, not allowing a Tornado putback. “We talked about that at halftime. We have to limit their chances so we can run our transition break, which we are good at,” Antonio said after beating Booker for the second time, also 67-54 on Dec. 1.
• Winners of three straight and five of six, the Cougars were just 15-of-33 from the free-throw line in the game, 3-for-9 in the first half. “Mama mia ... I don’t know why they call them free throws, because there’s nothing free about them,” Antonio said. "Typically, it’s not really a concern of ours, but they are young girls, so you never know what you are going to get.”
Booker takeaways
• The Tornadoes went 6:25 without a point and 7:21 without a field goal to start the second half leading to their demise. “They played better than us in the third quarter. We missed shots. It’s that simple,” said Booker coach Ty Bryant, whose team was outscored 15-3 in the quarter. “You can’t have a third quarter like that against a good team like Mooney.”
• To Booker’s credit, it came back and made it a game. The Tornadoes went on a 15-5 run to begin the fourth quarter to close to within 52-45. “The girls were in the game,” Bryant said. “My girls are going to fight. We’re in every game.”
• The Tornadoes are ranked 52nd in Florida and 10th in Class 4A by MaxPreps and 42nd in the FHSAA RPI power rankings. Booker has the third-highest strength of schedule in the area behind Charlotte and Cardinal Mooney. “We want to be mentioned with the Cardinal Mooneys and the Charlottes, the two best teams in the area,” Bryant said. “We’re right there. We’re playing the teams that nobody else wants to play. We’re out here. We play everybody.”
North Port 61, Port Charlotte 59
GAME:AT: North Port High
TOP PLAYERS: PC, Delaini Morris (19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), Bryanna Griffiths (12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks), Aryianna Lockey-Progl (12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks), Yani Hall (12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals); NP, Hailey Cohen (18 points), Jessica Stewart (12 points)
BOYS BASKETBALL
Riverview 73, Booker 45
GAME AT: Booker High (in MLK Classic).
TOP PLAYERS: R, Jason Jackson (23 points, 3 rebounds), Pete Goldberg (15 points, 3 3-pointers, 5 assists, 4 rebounds), Ja’mier Jones (14 points, 2 rebounds), Jackson Dawson (7 points, 8 rebounds); B, Darrien Oliver (14 points), Jamarion Summers (10 points)
RECORDS: Riverview (14-4); Booker (3-12).
OF NOTE: Riverview outscored Booker 47-28 in the second half. … The Rams have won three straight and six of their past seven. … The Tornadoes have lost three straight and 10 of 11. … Riverview beat Booker 58-41 in the first meeting on Dec. 2.
UP NEXT: Riverview at Bradenton Christian, 7:30 p.m. today.
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: Strong third quarter leads Cardinal Mooney past Booker
