Unbeaten Tritons post 14th win
Mariner extended its unbeaten streak to 14 straight games Saturday afternoon with a 71-62 victory over Palmetto in the Venice Battle of the Beach Shootout.
Island Coast was not as fortunate as the host team handed the Gators a 73-61 defeat, the fifth loss in a row for the Gators.
The Tritons (14-0) led most of the way, but trailed by one point at the half. a couple of eight- to 10-point runs in the second half ignited the Tritons to victory.
“This was good for us coming out of a break,” said Tritons coach James Harris, who also registered his 200th win as Mariner coach. “We made an adjustment at the half to get back inside to the basket. We hit 6-of-7 from three-point range, but it was our inside game that won it for us.”
Sean Kostyk led a trio of Tritons scoring in double figures with 17 points to go with five rebounds. Jamel Myers contributed 15 points to the offense and Tyrell Smith 11 points.
The Tritons travel to Lely on Tuesday.
The Gators (8-9) had two scorers reach double figures, led by Craig Sirmons with a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Merchant pitched in 11 points while Kory Curtis added seven points, six rebounds and five assists and Quad Jenkins got eight points and five boards.
“We fell behind, down 11 at the end of the first quarter,” said Gators coach Greg Coleman. “We made four turnovers toward the end of the half that led to a 10-0 run by Venice.”
Ten points was as close as the Gators got in the fourth quarter.
“We are not playing well right now,” said Coleman. “We need school to start back up so we can get back to our routine. Our schedule the rest of the way there are no gimmies, so we have to play well from here on out.”
The Gators travel to Port Charlotte on Tuesday.