Southwest Florida Sports results for Jan. 2-7: Wrestling, basketball and soccer
Here's a roundup of the high school sports results reported for the week of Jan 2-7, 2023:
SATURDAY
Wrestling
The Cougars were the last team standing at the FHSAA 2A District 12 Duals held at Barron Collier High School on Saturday.
Barron Collier defeated Bonita Springs 53-21 in the final. The Cougars took out East Lee in the semis (65-13), Naples in the quarters (59-15) and Lely in the first round (63-9).
Full results
1st place match: Barron Collier d. Bonita Springs 53-21
Semisfinals: Barron Collier d. East Lee 65-13, Bonita Springs d. Golden Gate 51-30
Quarterfinals: Barron Collier d. Naples 59-15, East Lee d. South Fort Myers 40-39, Bonita Springs d. Cypress Lake 48-27, Golden Gate d. Immokalee 45-39
First round: Barron Collier d. Lely, 63-9 (All other teams had first round byes)
Girls Basketball
Gulf Coast 58, Lely 37: The Sharks were led by Maddie Leslie's 24 points. Angelina Insana added 7.
Boys Basketball
Seacrest Country Day 60, Lehigh 59: The Stingrays overcame the Lightning trailing by one with less than 10 seconds to go. Nick Cassano, who hit the game winner, finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists. Senior forward Malachi Plummer had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
FRIDAY
Wrestling
First Baptist hosted and dominated the FHSAA 1A District 12 Duals on Friday, defeating Oasis 72-12 in the final.
The Lions reached the final with victories against LaBelle in the semis (70-6) can Canterbury in the quarters (68-0).
Hailee Moder, Jonathan Moder, Andres DiGrigoli, David Byelick, Joe Castellone, Gavin Patton, Roy Reyes, Christian Moder, Connor Koert, Caleb Rodriguez, Everett Stephens and Asher Bacon all won their bouts for the Lions in the first place match.
Bishop Verot defeated Gateway 52-30 to take third place.
Full results
1st place match: First Baptist d. Oasis 72-12
3rd place match: Bishop Verot d. Gateway 52-30
Semifinals: First Baptist d. LaBelle 70-6, Oasis d. Bishop Verot 42-39
Quarterfinals: First Baptist d. Canterbury 68-0, LaBelle d. ECS 48-33, Bishop Verot d. Gateway 51-27, Oasis d. SFCA 58-24
First round: Canterbury d. Gateway Charter 48-24, SFCA d. Estero 48-30 (All other teams had first round byes)
Boys basketball
Seacrest Country Day 68, Imagine School 58: Senior Nick Cassano scored 31 points with 11 rebounds in the Stingrays' win. Sophomore Ben Cassano added 21 points on seven made threes.
Archbishop McCarthy 84, CSN 65: Dom Hoge led the Seahawks with 20 points in the loss, while Brennan Ringhofer added 12.
Port Charlotte 48, ECS 40: In the road loss, Gavin Williams scored 13 for the Sentinels and Jared Julmeus scored 12.
Girls basketball
St. John Neumann 55, Barron Collier 51: The Celtics pulled out the win to improve to 12-5 in a game that came down to the wire. Sophia McCartney scored 33 points, including 7 made free throws in the game's final minutes. McCartney grabbed 20 rebounds, and Sydney Martin scored 14 points.
Bishop Verot 50, Golden Gate 32: Carlyn Kelly led the Vikings in scoring with 16 points. Cameron O'Halloran added 11.
Boys soccer
Bishop Verot 4, Lemon Bay 0: The Vikings' Antonio Portes had a hat trick in the win. Raul Blandon recorded a goal and an assist.
THURSDAY
Boys Basketball
Barron Collier 71, Palmetto Ridge 52: Not much went wrong for Barron Collier Thursday night. And if it did, the Cougars found a way to recover and respond quickly.
Barron (11-4) ended Palmetto Ridge’s undefeated start to the season (10-1), winning 71-52 thanks to a clinic from the trio of Brayden Touchette, Bryce Clayton, and Noah French.
The trio combined for 64 points, with each of them eclipsing the 20-point mark. It was the first time three players from the same team eclipsed that mark locally. Touchette had a career-high 23 points and 15 rebounds, giving him his fourth double-double of the year. Touchette's 15 boards were also more than Palmetto Ridge had as an entire team, with 13.
“It was exciting to get a big win, and bounce back from Tampa,” Touchette said. “We shut them down, 10-1, all the publicity around them, not anymore.”
After Lely had nine makes from beyond the arc in their game with the Bears before Christmas, Barron found plenty of looks outside, knocking down 11 three-pointers Thursday. That was the sixth time the Cougars have made 10 or more triples in a game this season, surpassing last year’s total of five.
“Palmetto’s a good team, they came in here 10-0,” Barron Collier coach David Watts said. “Take nothing away from them. They play hard, and have some great, dynamic players. We’ve been building Barron since I came here.
“It’s not often that you have three guys get 20 (points), we’ve got five guys who can get 20. It’s all dependent on who’s night it is. … If you look at our production, we go double figures with our top four guys. That’s unique. How do you guard that?”
Palmetto Ridge had another productive night out of Calven Charles, who finished with a team-high 18 points. He helped the Bears get within three midway through the second quarter, but couldn’t draw even or take the lead. Sean Gomez added 14 points, while Iago Stanback was held to nine points, a season-low and his lowest output in 15 games dating back to Jan. 27 of last year.
Touchette grabbed seven offensive rebounds, a place where the Cougars cleaned up. Barron had plenty of second-chance opportunities because of their domination inside, which consistently put the pressure back on Palmetto Ridge in multiple situations.
“That’s what we’ve been keying in on,” Watts said. “We’ve got a long group, ranging from 6-foot-2 to 6-foot-5, maybe 6-foot-6. I challenge our starters all to come out with five rebounds a game. By hitting the boards like that, if you can win the boards, control what you can control, and control the tempo, you’re always going to come out victorious.”
Both teams will be back in action on short notice, as Barron Collier will play Westminster Christian on Saturday. Palmetto Ridge will look to move to 11-1 with a game against Estero slated for Friday.
— Alex Martin
Naples 69, Immokalee 62: In the annual red-out game for Kyle Fernstrom, a former team manager who passed away in 2005, the Golden Eagles scored a win over Immokalee. Joshua Similien led the way with 18 points, while Jaden Wolner added 15 points. In the loss for the Indians, Syncere Green had 17 points.
Girls Basketball
Naples 47, Palmetto Ridge 39: Annika Andersen led the Golden Eagles with 21 points, while Kalea Moore had nine points and nine rebounds in the win. Andersen added seven boards and five steals to help Naples get to 6-7.
Boys Soccer
Mariner 3, King 0: The Tritons got one goal apiece from Neil Zela, Maximo Gorosito, and Jose Bermudez to grab their eighth win of the season. Mariner will play Miami Beach in the semifinals of the Tampa Invitational on Friday.
WEDNESDAY
Girls Basketball
Gulf Coast 50, Golden Gate 31: The Sharks improved to 8-6 after a 23-point performance from Maddie Leslie. Tyrah Towsend added 13 points in the win. Gulf Coast will face Estero on Thursday.
St. John Neumann 60, Bishop Verot 41: Sophia McCartney led the Celtics with 32 points and 22 rebounds, while Sydney Martin and Lily Wahlfeld added 12 and 9 points, respectively. Cameron O’Halloran led the Vikings with 17 points.
Boys Soccer
Bishop Verot 1, Lely 0: Abraham Magallanes scored the contest's lone goal off an assist from Cooper Banks.
TUESDAY
Boys Basketball
Palmetto Ridge 56, SFCA 36: The Bears moved to 10-0 with a win over the King's. Iago Stanback led the Ridge with 17 points, while Calven Charles and Sean Gomez had 10 points apiece. Palmetto Ridge will take on Barron Collier in a Collier County showdown on Thursday.
Lemon Bay 57, Evangelical Christian 49: The Sentinels came up short on the road against the Manta Rays. Gavin Williams had 24 points for ECS. Since December 20, Williams has averaged 29.6 points per game across seven games.
Community School 64, St. John Neumann 48: Aidan Doyle had 20 points and seven assists in the win for the Seahawks. Grayson Kerscher ended with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Brennan Ringhofer had 15 points and five steals.
Girls Basketball
St. John Neumann 57, Lemon Bay 52: The Celtics got a big performance from Sophia McCartney, who had her third 20-20 game this season and the fourth of her career with 26 points and 21 rebounds. Sydney Martin added 18 points for Neumann.
Village School 48, Everglades City 10: Mylee van de Wouw finished with 21 points, while Cara Hartfield had 13 points. Bella Holmes chipped in with eight points.
Boys Soccer
Lely 2, Immokalee 2 (4-2 in PKs): The Trojans advanced in the CCPS Tournament thanks to winning 4-2 in penalties. Lely will take on Gulf Coast in the next round of the CCPS Tournament.
Golden Gate 3, Barron Collier 2: The Titans scored a huge win over the Cougars, netting a pair of goals in the second half for their eighth win of the season. Golden Gate advances in the CCPS Tournament to play Naples.
Girls Soccer
Naples 0, Gulf Coast 0: The Sharks and Golden Eagles came to a draw Tuesday night.
MONDAY
Boys Soccer
Gulf Coast 3, Bishop Verot 3: The Vikings tied for the sixth time in 10 games this season, scoring three first-half goals before the Sharks evened the score in the second half. Marcello Maffei opened and ended the scoring for Gulf Coast, while Diego Martinez scored the second. Caleb Peterson and Neil Maldonado had one assist apiece. For Verot, Cooper Banks netted a pair, while Ryan Gadson added a third. Raul Blandon and Luke Antonelli had one assist each.
Naples 4, Palmetto Ridge 3: The Golden Eagles survived an upset bid by the Bears, as Harvey Sarajian and Jose Valdez both netted two goals apiece. Sarajian also assisted once, as did Alvin Nunez and Eder Alonso.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: HS Roundup: Barron Collier ends Palmetto Ridge's undefeated 10-0 start
