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A roundup of Southwest Florida high school winter sports events played on Nov. 25-30, 2024.
SATURDAY
Girls Basketball
Barron Collier Turkey Shootout
First Baptist 55, Seacrest 49 (2 OT): The title game at the Barron Collier Turkey Shootout went down to the final seconds of a second overtime period. With the game up in the air, an unknown yet talented eighth-grader came through in the clutch.
Ella Reategui hit a 3-pointer late in the second OT to help spark the Lions to a victory and the tournament title in the Cougar Den, capping off two thrilling basketball games in a row for FBA.
The Lions won the title barely 24 hours after upsetting defending Class 2A state champ Evangelical Christian School in the tourney semifinals.
The game with Seacrest was a see-saw affair that saw the Stingrays take a big lead early only to fall behind in the third quarter.
It took some intangible things to get the Lions through two tough victories in a row.
“These girls have a great ability to play together,” said FBA coach Emily Lines. “It takes something extra. These girls stayed together, and they believe in themselves a lot.”
Seacrest will not have to wait long for a little revenge. The Stingrays and Lions meet again on Dec. 17 at FBA.
Eslynda Bouzi scored 17 points for First Baptist. Zara Stewart also had 17.
“It was an exciting game, and the girls played hard,” Lines said. “Ella has not played a lot yet this season. She came through when we needed her.”
The Stingrays held the Lions off the scoreboard for the first three minutes of the first quarter while piling up a 10-0 lead.
Stewart netted a 3-pointer for FBA in the final seconds of the first, at the end of which Seacrest led only 15-13.
The tempo slowed up on both sides in the second quarter, and there was only one bucket by both teams combined.
The Lions took a surprising 19-17 halftime lead after Molly Loveall connected on a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in the half.
FBA then began the second half with a 5-0 run to assume a 24-19 lead. But Seacrest came rallying back and, after a Dragana Scepanovic layup, the Stingrays led 26-24. Seacrest would eventually lead 29-24 before the Lions’ Stewart made a stunning 3-pointer at the buzzer, so it was only a 29-27 game heading into the fourth.
― Tom Corwin
Pace 52, Naples 40: Lizie Froloff scored 15, including 3 3-pointers, while Kaydriana Vilsaint and Jaliyah Tiberio added 10 apiece for Naples (1-3).
Lely 52, Palmetto Ridge 48: Zashlie Andris scored 14 and Fara Louissant 12 for the Trojans.
ECS 62, Barron Collier 20
Boys Basketball
Barron Collier Turkey Shootout
Barron Collier 65, Mariner 24: The home boys team carved up yet another opponent on the basketball court as the Cougars wrapped up the round-robin tournament with a big win over Mariner in the Cougar Den.
BC went 3-0 in the round-robin format tournament, improving to 4-0 in the young season.
“We learned a lot about ourselves this week, and it helped that we had great competition,” said Barron coach David Watts. “We’re trying to improve in November and December, but it’s really all about January and February and doing well then.”
Spencer Clayton had 20 points for the Cougars and Christian Olander also added 14 to the scoring column.
For the Tritons (0-3), Ericson Noel had 15 points.
“We wanted to play with a good pace,” Watts said. “We pushed the ball up the court a lot, but we’re really a half-court team. You have to have a good pace if you’re a half-court team.”
Both teams started the game up-tempo and shooting from the perimeter. And after one quarter, the Cougars were well ahead 21-8.
In the second quarter, BC continued to push it up court quickly, setting up its 3-point shooters.
When not shooting from 3-point land, the Cougars pounded it inside to Rowan Sanson and Olander. With a defense that picked up plenty of defense rebounds, it gave BC control from the start.
“We figured that Mariner is a 3-point team, so we wanted to stop the 3-pointer,” Watts said. “We wanted to play defense and control the boards. If you do those two things, you will probably be OK.”
― Tom Corwin
FRIDAY
Girls Basketball
Barron Collier Turkey Shootout
First Baptist 59, ECS 51: Eslynda Bouzi led the Lions with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals with Zara Stewart adding 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists and Laila Stewart scoring 15. Nalah Smith led the Sentinels with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 6 blocks and Areille Marc added 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Lely 45, Naples 42: Fara Louissaint netted 14 and Zashlie Andris 11 to pace Lely. Lizie Froloff scored 11 for Naples.
Palmetto Ridge 50, Pace 45: Melody Charlton and Cousins scored 11 for the Bears.
Seacrest 46, Barron Collier 33
WEDNESDAY
Girls Basketball
Barron Collier Turkey Shootout
First Baptist 46, Naples 28: Eslynda Bouzi led the Lions (3-0) with 11 points and Zara Sewart added 8. Emma Paul and Juliana Argueta scored 8 apiece for the Golden Eagles (1-1).
ECS 61, Lely 25: Kellisia Grant dropped a game-high 20 for the Sentinels (2-1), Amiyah Green had 13 and Ari Marc 11. Abigael Francois scored 9 and Fara Louissaint netted 7 for the Trojans (1-2).
Barron Collier 61, Palmetto Ridge 35: Peyton Heffelfinger scored 15, with Sheila Forbes adding 12 and Taylor Viotto 11 for the Cougars. Melody Charloton scored 8 for the Bears.
Seacrest 46, Pace 38: Dee netted 11 for the Stingrays.
TUESDAY
Boys Soccer
Mariner 4, Immokalee 2: Neil Zela, Myles Rios, Alessandro Gonzalez, and Justin Medero scored for the Tritons (7-0). Ivan Resendiz and Leonardo Concepcion scored for Immokalee.
Boys Basketball
St. John Neumann 65, Aubrey Rogers 56: Michael Nevill led the Celtics with 21 points with 12 apiece from Kris Trpevski 12 and Blaise Walczak 12. Aubrey Rogers got 10 points from Kediel Fernandez and 12 from Luke Johnson.
Girls Basketball
Bishop Verot 46, Donahue Academy 16: Cameron O’Halloran (22 points), and Ambrielle Calixte (10 points) led the Vikings.
MONDAY
Girls Basketball
Bishop Verot 64, Golden Gate 12: Cameron O’Halloran scored 29 and Caroline Ward 18 to pace Verot.
