Victory's Fitzgerald wins 500th game plus more observations from Stinger Shootout

LAKELAND — Victory Christian's win over Olympia on Saturday night gives the Storm even more confidence heading into the district tournaments then the postseason, which was the most important outcome for head coach Steve Fitzgerald.

However, the victory also had personal meaning for Fitzgerald.

The Storm's 56-53 victory at the Mosaic 2023 Stinger Shootout gave Fitzgerald his 500th career victory.

"Longevity and good players," Fitzgerald said. "It means a lot more with that kind of thing (playing Olympia). We just played those kinds of teams all season long, so we're trying to prepare ourselves to make a (postseason run).  I feel like if we can beat that team, we can compete with OCP."

Olympia (23-2) is ranked No. 2 in Class 7A, and its only other loss was to Winter Haven.

"This gives us confidence," Fitzgerald said. Between this game and the Tampa Catholic game, we beat two elite teams. It shows we can do it."

LJ Cason's 25 points paced Victory Christian against Olympia, and Olympia shot was just 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range.

This is Fitzgerald's seventh season at Victory Christian. He spend most of his career in South Florida, mostly at Coral Springs Christian. Ten years ago, he led Coral Springs to the state championship game.

Blue Devils smother Knox

Winter Haven used its size and experience in its 77-69 victory over Tampa Catholic, and nationally ranked junior guard Karter Knox was held in check. The Blue Devils outrebounded Tampa Catholic, 41-30 with Dylan James grabbing 22 rebounds. Knox was held to just nine points.

"They're used to playing against him," Winter Haven coach Tyrone Woodside said. "It's like playing against  your brother or your best friend. They have a better feel for the game, and they have confidence in the fact that they have so many teammates they can count on."

After the first quarter was tied, 23-23, Winter Haven slowly pulled away and led by 14 points after three quarters.

It was a typical balanced night scoring for the Blue Devils, who had four player score in double figures: Kjei Parker (17 points), Jamie Phillips Jr. (16 point), Isaac Celiscar (15 points) and James (12 points).

Polk teams go 5-6 in Shootout

Of the 12 games, 11 involved Polk teams with Bartow playing twice, both on Friday and Saturday nights. Polk teams finished just under .500 at 5-6, but Bartow coach Terrence McGriff put together a very competitive event. All 12 games were competitive with three games going into overtime.

Here are all the scores of all 12 games: Discovery 56, Clearwater 49; George Jenkins 40, Port Charlotte 38; Windermere 80, Bartow 63; Orlando Christian 62, Lakeland 59; Orlando Dr. Phillips 58, Kathleen 55; Lake Wales 75, Leesburg 70; Plant City 58, Sebring 52; Newsome 46, Santa Fe Catholic 42; Miami Norland 58, Auburndale 51; Berkeley Prep 49, Bartow 48; Victory Christian 56, Olympia 53; Winter Haven 77, Tampa Catholic 69.

Best Comeback: Lake Wales

Lake Wales trailed Leesburg by 11 point with just over two minutes to play, but the Highlanders kept trimming Leesburg's lead.

Rosado hit a 3-pointer that Leesburg's lead to 59-54 then followed with a pair of free throws to make it 59-56 with 1:02 to play.

Gary Love's 3-pointer made it a one-point game, 60-59, with 12.6 seconds to play. Then after Leesburg hit a free throw, Love tied the score with a layup at the buzzer.

In overtime, Love hit a 3-pointer for the first points, and Lake Wales never trailed. Rosado hit a layup with 56 seconds left to put Lake Wales up by six, 73-67. However, he picked up a technical, which was his fifth foul.

Despite missing their leading scorer and primary ballhandler in the final minute, the Highlanders did not let Leesburg rally and they hung on for the five-point victory, 75-70.

Ran Out of Gas, Part I

Kathleen took a 48-39 lead into the fourth quarter but managed just seven points in the final eight minutes. Dr. Phillips outscored the Red Devils, 19-7, in the final quarter and came away with a three-point victory, 58-55.

Tale of Two Halves

Bartow was playing textbook Yellow Jackets basketball in the first half, especially the second quarter when it out scored Windermere 28-13, and took a 45-36 halftime lead. The Yellow Jackets had good ball movement, ran the floor and created turnovers.

However, Bartow never got going in the second half. Windermere outscored Bartow, 44-18, in the half.

Top Performers at Stinger Shootout

Here are the top performances from each game. There were five players who had double-doubles. Lake Wales's Rosado was the high scorer with 32 points and Winter Haven's James grabbed a Shootout-high 22 rebounds.

Angel Canuelas, Disccovery: Scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Nicholas Sims, Clearwater: Scored 25 points and shot 71 percent from 3-point range.

Jaquan Cross, George Jenkins: Scored 13 points with five rebounds.

Stanley Anderson-Lofton, Dr. Phillips: Scored 20 points with six rebounds and three steals.

Chalier Torres, Windermere: Scored 22 points with seven rebounds.

Ta'veon Jones, Windermere: Scored 20 points with six assists.

Jayson Williams, Bartow: Scored 18 points with three rebounds and two steals

Edward Wiggins, Bartow: Recorded double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Rolijah Hardy, Lakeland: Scored 13 points with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Jeremy Russell, Kathleen: Scored 19 points with five rebounds.

Jerome Groves, Kathleen: Recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Kanye Gaines, Leesburg: Scored 18 points with eight rebounds.

Sevastian Rosado, Lake Wales: Scored 32 points with five assists and five steals.

Gary Love, Lake Wales: Recorded a double-double with 15 points with 11 rebounds.

Elijah Dawson, Plant City: Scored 22 points with nine rebounds and three blocks.

Jordan Gregory, Sebring: Scored 17 points with six rebounds.

Carlton Young, Newsome: Scored 19 points with seven rebounds and three steals.

Aiden Jones, Santa Fe Catholic: Scored 14 points and shot 67 percent from 3-point range.

Triston Wilson, Miami Norland: Scored 16 points with five rebounds and four assists.

Nehemiah Turner, Auburndale: Scored 24 points with 12 rebounds and four steals.

George Kimble, Bartow: Scored 21 lints with four rebounds.

Charles Outlaw, Olympia: Recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

LJ Cason, Victory Christian:  Scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and three assists.

Eddrin Bronson, Tampa Catholic: Scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Isaiah Campbell-Finch, Tampa Catholic: Scored 18 points.

Kjei Parker, Winter Haven: Scored 17 points.

Dylan James Winter Haven: Recorded double-double with 11 points and 22 rebounds.

Jamie Phillips Jr., Winter Haven: Scored 16 points with six rebounds and six assists.

Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theleder.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RoyFuoco.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Victory's Fitzgerald wins 500th game plus more observations from Stinger Shootout