Tritons roll to 20th win
Mariner has won its first 20 games of the season after downing rival Fort Myers 66-42 Friday night.
Amir Haynes led the Tritons with 18 points and Dominic Carpenter added 10 points. Both players grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
“We have beaten them four of the last five years,” said Tritons coach James Harris. “We were up 19-7 after the first quarter. It was good to start the third quarter with an 18-point lead.”
The Tritons (20-10) host formidable Lehigh on Saturday.
“They beat Fort Myers by 20 points also, so that’s the game for us,” added Harris. “I expect it will be a close game. I was impressed with out defensive effort tonight. I thought we had a couple of lapses, but they are a good team and we were able to finish the game.”
Charlotte 65, Island Coast 58: A tight game throughout was decided by a crucial turnover by Island Cost in the final 30 seconds Friday night as Charlotte prevailed in the end.
“We were down three points with less than 30 seconds to go when we turned the ball over on our own baseline,” said Gators coach Greg Coleman. “We fouled and they made the free throws.”
Kory Curtis led the Gators with 23 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Craig Sirmons pitched in a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds while Austin Grimm added nine points and five assist.s
The loss snaps a four-game winning streak by the Gaotrs (12-12) heading into next Friday’s game against Mariner.
“We could meet in the district semifinal to make the regional, so it was good for us to keep it close to them. We were down by 30 to them at the half last time we played them.”