Gators crush Red Knights 78-50
Island Coast led from start to finish Thursday night to register a 78-50 rout of North Fort Myers.
Ten players scored for the Gators, led by Sam Merchant with 16 points. Craig Sirmons contributed 11 points and seven rebounds with Torian Thomas completing the trio of double-figure contributors with 10 points. Matt McAloon pulled down 10 rebounds to go with nine points.
“We tried some things early, some set plays to get the guys to learn them,” said Gators coach Greg Coleman. “We ran them right in a row with a slow tempo. Once I saw they had them down, we opened it up and pulled away.”
The Red Knights never got closer than 16 points from the third quarter on.
The Gators (12-7, 4-3 district) host Dunbar on Friday.
C.S. Naples 58, Bishop Verot 34: Matt Medovich was the lone bright spot in Bishop Verot’s loss Thursday at C.S. Naples. Medovich was the only double-figure scorer with 12 points.
Zach Rochelle led Naples with a game-high 24 points.
The Vikings (9-10) take on Lemon Bay Friday in the Wally Keller Shootout at Charlotte High School,
Girls Basketball
Oasis 55, Gateway Charter 51 (OT): Free throws and Jordan Westendorf kept Oasis within striking distance and provided the eventual overtime victory Thursday night at Gateway.
Westendorf finished with a game-high 30 points, which included two free throws with eight seconds left in regulation to force overtime. She converted five of six free throws in the fourth quarter.
“Her free throws helped us keep it within reach,” said Sharks coach Sam Wood. “She had four points in the overtime and Sarah Pickle hit two free throws in the overtime to put us up by four and we held on.”
The Sharks fell behind early and played from behind into the second half until grabbing the lead late and held on in the overtime.
Samantha Wood contributed 15 points toward the win for the Sharks (11-9), who host Seacrest on Tuesday.