Island Coast rides big early lead to 90-75 win
Island Coast made an early 16-1 advantage stand up to all challenges Tuesday night to take down the TPS Pine School Classic host school 90-75.
The Gators kept pulling away throughout the game only to see Pine School come back each time on free throw shooting. Pine School sank 31 of 42 free throws in the game to keep some pressure on the Gators, who never let the early advantage get tighter than nine points throughout.
“If not for the free throws it would have been a rout,” said Gators coach Greg Coleman. “Thirty-one points on free throws, 31 points. Whenever you play out of county you learn the different referee associations call the game differently. They were calling hand checks.”
The Gators (9-4) rode the offensive effort of five players scoring in double figures, led by Matt Jeannelas with 22 points to go with seven rebounds. Colin Chisholm came through with 15 points and six rebounds while Gabe Muhammad added 14 points and six assists. Sam Merchant contributed 13 points and four assists with Craig Sirmons finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The Gators play for the tournament championship at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Seminole Ridge.
Arby’s Classic: In all three tournament games they have played in Tennessee, the Mariner Tritons held a lead in the fourth quarter. One of those turned out to be a victory on Monday. That was not the case Tuesday morning.
Dobyns (Tenn.) managed to pull out a 65-52 victory to sent the Tritons (9-3) home on a sour note.
“We’ve got to find a way to finish basketball games,” said Tritons coach James Harris. “It was a good learning experience in an tournament environment.”
Rodney Hunter led the Tritons with 16 points and eight rebounds backed by Isaiah Darrett with 15 points and seven rebounds. Sean Kostyk just missed double figures with nine points.
“We made too many turnovers down the stretch and missed some easy shots inside,” said Harris.
The Tritons play at East Lee County next Tuesday.
Smoothie King Classic: Cape Coral ruled the day Tuesday, crushing Seven Rivers Academy 53-8 in the consolation bracket at Bradenton Christian.
Jake Atkins gave the Seahawks the early lead by hitting two three-point baskets for the team’s first six points and the outcome was never in doubt after that. Atkins finished with a game-high 18 points. Bradon Alcide contributed seven points and Lawrence Perez six.
Every Seahawk on the bench got to play with eight players getting points in the scorebook. Cape led 35-7 by halftime.
The Seahawks (5-9) play for fifth place at 2 p.m. Wednesday against the No. 6-ranked team in Florida Class 2A Sarasota Christian.