North claims title at Baker
The Ida Baker Christmas Classic girls’ basketball tournament came to an end Wednesday night with North Fort Myers forging a 56-30 victory over Estero in the championship game.
After three days of competition, the Red Knights went 3-0 in the round-robin tournament, winning all three of their games by an average margin of 24 points.
“This win helps (our morale) a lot,” said Red Knights coach Kathy Padilla. “We have the potential to go into regionals this year. We’re not there yet, but this win certainly helps.”
The Red Knights went into halftime leading the Wildcats by three, and needed some big plays from their defense to keep Estero off the board for most of the second half.
“Our defense started in the second half,” said Padilla. “Estero beat us in the second quarter. I didn’t think our defense stepped up in the second half. (In the first half) we were containing them, but we wanted to make sure they couldn’t run their best play against us.”
The Red Knights were led by the senior guards Wally Rosario and Machera Calhoun. Both players recorded a double-double -Calhoun with 12 points and 12 steals, and Rosario with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Carol Ruiz-Lopez added another 14 points.
“We still have a lot of room for improvement,” said Padilla. “We let Estero hang around. They went into halftime knowing they were in it. We need to learn to be a four-quarter team and not a second half team.”
Estero clinched a spot in the finals with an upset win over Merritt Island Tuesday night.
“I told our team to take care of the ball and to not let Estero hang around,” said Padilla. “These guys are running on adrenaline and on amazing confidence considering they were the underdog. No one thought Estero was going to take out Merritt Island. They are a well-coached team.”
In the third-place game, Merritt Island fought off an early seven-point, first-quarter deficit and an eight-point, second-half deficit to beat Charlotte 51-44. The Mustangs were led by freshman Dejanae Baker, who scored a tournament-high 20 points. Angela Tompkins led Charlotte with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Tournament host Ida Baker defeated Mariner 52-36 in the fifth-place game Wednesday after being knocked out of title contention on the first day of the tournament.