Prep Report: Mariner, Island Coast stumble in opening basketball regional
The boys’ basketball season came to a screeching halt Thursday night for the Mariner Tritons and Island Coast Gators, both of whom lost in regional quarterfinal playoff games on the road.
Bishop Verot and Fort Myers, the newly-crowned district champions, both prevailed in their regional quarterfinal matches. Verot knocked off Bradenton Southeast 59-54 while Fort Myers crushed Immokalee 85-64.
Both teams advance to their respective regional semifinal games Tuesday.
For the Tritons, the end came with the taste of disappointment from a 53-46 defeat at Barron Collier in Region 4A-3 play. Likewise, the Gators left the floor smarting from a 57-50 defeat at Hardee County.
Barron Collier 53, Mariner 46: Barron Collier turned a one-point game into a seven-point victory with a 20-point run in the fourth quarter to ruin the Tritons’ thoughts of a rematch with district champion Fort Myers next week.
“It was a tough loss, but a great season for us,” said Tritons coach James Harris. “Making back-to-back state appearances was great. Our last two games (both losses) really are not indicative of how well we played the last month of the season.”
The Tritons led 32-31 heading into the final period, but the Cougars immediately made a run out to an eight-point cushion.
The Tritons cut it back to five, but the Cougars hit a three-pointer last in the quarter to boost it back to eight points.
Justin Emmons led the Tritons with nine points while Nick Marrero and Kendrec Ferrara each contributed eight points.
David Phillips topped the Cougars with 16 points.
The Cougars will host Fort Myers in Tuesday’s Region 4A-3 semifinals.
Mariner 9 9 14 14 – 46
Barron Collier 13 9 9 20 – 53
MARINER 46 – Stamps 1, Bender 2, Adams 7, Marrero 8, Moore 6, Guerrier 5, Ferrara 8, Emmons 9. Totals: 16 7-12 46.
3PG: Marrero 2, Moore 2, Adams 1.
COLLIER 53 – Clark 14, Smith 10, Phillips 16, Faggin 2, Tormey 3, Hays 8. Totals: 22 4-9 53.
3PG: Clark 1, Phillips 1, Tormey 1.
Hardee County 57, Island Coast 50: Hardee County got a team-high 15 points from Andrew Hooks and took advantage of 20 turnovers to beat the Gators.
“They (Hardee) got 22 offensive rebounds, which hurt us, and we made 20 turnovers,” said Gators coach Greg Coleman. “You can’t win doing that. We fought hard, though, and tried to make it a free-throw-shooting contest at the end, but they made them.”
The Gators (13-15) were led by Terrell Griffin with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Tim Dal Bon added 10 points.
“Our seniors overachieved this year,” said Coleman. “We were learning on the fly this season. Now this gives our juniors something to shoot for next year.”
Island Coast 12 8 9 21 – 50
Hardee Co. 9 13 19 16 – 57
ISLAND COAST 50 – Dungan 2, Dal Bon 10, Griffin 17, Harding 5, Orellana 2, Rosado 3, Rees 8, Morris 3. Totals: 17 12-14 50.
3PG: Dal Bon 3, Harding 1, Rosado 1.
HARDEE 57 – Rivers 4, A. Hooks 15, Anderson 4, J. Hooks 10, D. Hooks 8, Casso 3, Rodriguez 4, Brown 9. Totals: 14 22-32 57.
3PG: J. Hooks 1, Casso 1.
Bishop Verot 59, Southeast 54: Mark Wagner, Ricky Doyle and Jason Taylor scored in double figures to lead Bishop Verot’s win in the Region 3A-3 quarterfinals.
“This was a big win for us since they beat us by eight points two weeks ago,” said Vikings coach Matt Herting.
Wagner connected for a team-high 16 points while Doyle and Taylor finished with 14 apiece.
The Vikings (21-7) will host Hardee County Tuesday.
Boys Tennis
Ida Baker 6, Cape Coral 1: Baker ran its season record to 3-0 with a victory at Cape Coral. The Bulldogs will go for win No. 4 Tuesday at Fort Myers.
Singles – Nick Boye (IB) def. Najja Derrick 6-1, 6-2; Matt Harrison (IB) def. Gustavo Corella 6-0, 6-2; Alex Ragonese (CC) def. Caleb Littlestone 7-6, 6-3; Jaryd Wydock (IB) def. Xaviaire Walters 3-6, 6-2, 10-6; Chris Carrillo (IB) def. Jacob Ranville 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles – Boye-Harrison (IB) def. Derrick-Ragonese 8-4; Littlestone-Wydock (IB) def. Corella-Walters 7-1
Mariner 6, East Lee County 1: Mariner improved to 2-0 with a win at East Lee County.
Singles – Steven Allen (M) def. Juan Ravelo 7-6 (7-2), 6-1; Bradley Allen (M) def. Ariel Ortiz 6-0, 6-2; Jordan Coberly (M) def. Bruce Lawmaster 6-0, 6-1; Travis Pacheco (M) def. Armando Macias 6-2, 6-3; Ethan Fletcher (M) def. Chris Robles 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles – B. Allen-Coberly (M) def. Ortiz-Lawmaster 8-2; Ravelo-Macias (ELC) def. Cody Kibler-Billy Carmelia 8-2.
Girls Tennis
Mariner 7, East Lee County 0: Mariner swept East Lee to post the first win of the season. The Tritons visit Dunbar on Tuesday.
Singles – Katia Khatskevich (M) def. Candis Marques 6-3, 6-0; Tori Webb-Martin (M) def. Lorraine Goodwin 6-0, 6-1; Sydney Bell (M) def. Viviana Mendoza 6-1, 6-0; Megan Fritz (M) def. Dominique Savilmer 6-0, 6-0; Kayshel Trudell (M) def. Huiman Liu 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles – Khatskevich-Bell (M) def. Marques-Goodwin 8-3; Webb-Martin-Madison Fletcher (M) def. Mendoza-Salilmer 8-2.
Softball
Fort Myers 7, Mariner 5: Samantha Rapp belted a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but it was too little, too late for Mariner in a loss to Fort Myers.
Carrie Grigiski contributed two hits, including a triple, and was tagged with the loss on the mound. The Tritons (2-2) play at Evangelical Christian Friday.
Fort Myers130 201 0 – 7 9 1
Mariner200 003 0 – 5 7 6
W – Mayer. L – Grigiski (1-2).
2B – Suttert (FM) 2, Purvis (FM). 3B – Suttert (FM), Purvis (FM), Grigiski (M). HR – Rapp (M).
Baseball
Mariner 6, Key West 3: Justin Gubelman opened the first inning with a two-run double to set the tone in Mariner’s season-opening victory at Key West.
Gubelman finished with two hits and Ryan Suton also contributed two hits with one RBI.
The Tritons (1-0) take on Miami Braddock at 2 p.m. Friday in Key West.
Mariner 220 002 0 – 6 8 1
Key West002 010 0 – 3 4 1
W – Cavanagh (1-0). L – Abreu.
2B – Gubelman (M), Yankovich (M), Henry (KW).