Southwest Florida HS Roundup: Basketball, soccer, and wrestling results for Jan. 16-21

A roundup of scores featuring Southwest Florida teams from Jan. 16-21:

FRIDAY

Boys Basketball

First Baptist 80, Community School 56: The Lions cruised to a Private 8 championship win on Friday over the Seahawks. First Baptist, who led by at least 15 points for the duration of the contest, used their size on defense to force turnovers and contest shots that opened the floor up for plenty of easy transition buckets.

“Really, we were emphasizing defense,” said head coach Scott Stewart. “I think we have a lot of advantages, but they were pushing tempo. So we were saying ‘Okay, we’ll play uptempo as well.’ I got guys that like to play uptempo and we don’t always get to do that.”

Community School came off the opening tip letting it fly from three-point land. The Lions were prepared, however, and closed out on open shooters while cheating passing lanes. A combination of a cold shooting start from the Seahawks and strong defense from the Lions saw First Baptist jump out to a 9-0 lead inside the first three minutes of play.

It was more of the same for the rest of the quarter, where the Lions ended the opening frame with a 17-4 lead. The second quarter wasn’t much different, with First Baptist swarming on defense while exploiting whatever defensive looks the Seahawks threw at them on the other side of the floor.

Yohandry Ortiz exploded for 14 points in the second quarter alone. He finished the half with 21 points, many of which came from fast-break layups.

Ortiz’ presence was felt in the paint, finishing through contact while coming up big on the boards. When he couldn’t create a clean look for himself, Ortiz would collapse the defense and find an open cutter.

“I’m working on my jump-stop and just finishing over the defender,”said Ortiz, who finished with a game-high 27 points. “And when I don’t have it, I just look for the extra pass. I’m trying to get my teammates involved, and I feel like tonight everyone had a great attitude and everyone got to score.”

After entering halftime with a 35-13 lead, First Baptist started the second half with the same defensive intensity from the first half.

Latrell Davis and Jayden Petit made the Seahawks pay for slow transition defense, leaking out for open layups and helping expand the lead to 58-33 by the end of the quarter. Davis finished the win with 20 points, while Petit added 17 points.

“On offense, you’ve got to get guys to play together and share the sugar,” Stewart said. “And I think we did a good job of that.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, Community School came alive from deep, hitting three-straight triples and forcing turnovers that shrunk the lead from 25 points to 16 points. Aidan Doyle and George Childs led the late push for the Seahawks. Childs scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter, and Doyle finished the game with 11 points.

After a quick Lion timeout, First Baptist stopped the bleeding and closed out the championship game with and-ones, dunks, and steals that deflated the Seahawks’ momentum.

“We’re a very athletic team, and I feel like if we keep playing defense like we did tonight we’re going to be hard to stop,” Ortiz said. “Every game we have to bring the same intensity.”

Seacrest 69, Evangelical Christian 49: Nick Cassano led the Stingrays with 20 points in the win, while Malachi Plummer and Matthew Welkenbach added 14 points and 12 points, respectively.

Girls Basketball

Naples 61, Bonita Springs 43: Annika Andersen tallied 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists for the Golden Eagles. Abby Byrd had 10 points and 4 rebounds, while Kalea Moore added 10 points and 3 assists to the winning effort.

First Baptist 51, Seacrest 34: Zara Stewart secured the third-place finish in the Private 8 tournament for the Lions with a 20-point effort. Kaiya Arilli tacked on 8 points in the win.

Lehigh 67, Estero 54: Yadira Delgado and Faith Plummer had 15 points each for Lehigh while Nadyenka Jean added 14 and Rianne Smith 13.

Gateway 55, Oasis 37: Maci Stambaugh led the Sharks with 17 points while Brynn Stambaugh had 14 and Emma Osinski added 6 points in the loss.

Wrestling

Osceola 45, Palmetto Ridge 29: The defending champions went down in the Class 3A state duals quarterfinals held at Osceola High School. William McGowan, Tyler Washburn, Jean Valoria, Owen Pratt, Roman Garcia and Austin Foye earned wins for the Bears in the loss.

Zephyrhills Christian 42, First Baptist 35: After winning the regional duals title last week, the Lions fell to the Warriors in the Class 1A quarterfinals. Asher Bacon, Jonathan Moder, Michael Kersey, Gavin Patton, Christian Moder and Caleb Rodriguez won their bouts.

Boys Soccer

South Fort Myers 5, Gateway Charter 0: The Wolfpack got goals from Santiago Costa, Baldemar Rodriguez, Angel Sebas Aguilar, Roberto Martinez, and Stevens Henry. Luiz Diaz-Alvaro was credited with 3 saves for the shutout win. The Wolfpack are now 7-6-1.

Girls Soccer

Mariner 3, Cape Coral 1: Cameron Fallacara had the lone goal for the Seahawks. Payton Jones, Sophia Fallacara, Mikala Allen, and Isabella Cruz played well on the backline, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Tritons.

THURSDAY

Boys Soccer

Canterbury 2, Bishop Verot 1: Using their home field to their advantage is something Canterbury has done over each of the past three seasons.

The Cougars extended their home win streak against local opponents to 38 consecutive matches, thanks to goals from Will Hall and Conor Thomas to win the Private 8 Championship with a 2-1 decision over Bishop Verot.

With Thursday night’s win, the Cougars have won the Private 8 title in each of the past four years since the Private 8 was formed for the 2019-20 school year.

“I thought we had great control of the game,” Canterbury coach Jared Rust said. “We got a good rhythm, and we identified what they were trying to do with their press, to start finding those holes and pockets. Once we started playing like that, we were able to dictate the game and take over the game. Getting to 2-0, we felt like we had control, and it was just managing at that point.”

Expecting nothing less in a rivalry game, Verot and Canterbury duked it out for 80 minutes, with the Vikings putting the pressure on a Cougars team that tries to control possession and string together passes to create shot opportunities.

Despite being keyed in on by the Verot midfield, Riley Johnson helped churn out opportunities on the attacking end. Johnson tallied a pair of assists in the game, as Hall and Thomas both cashed in on their shots inside the 6-yard box thanks to well-positioned corner kicks from the senior.

Rust also liked Dusty Dwyer’s play in the midfield, as he and Walter Ballard managed to stop Verot momentum for much of the night. Cooper Banks finally got a shot past the Canterbury back line to make it 2-1 in the 75th minute when the Cougars were playing with 10 men following a pair of yellow cards from Julian Viacava.

“It shows us the competition we’re going to be facing going into regionals,” Dwyer said. “Our main goal is getting to states, and winning that. Tonight’s game was a big test for us, but we knew we’re looking forward still.”

Set pieces have not been there for Canterbury over the last six games, with it showing in some competitive games. A pair of draws against Mariner and a pair of 1-0 losses to Bishop Moore and Columbus sent the team a message.

“Set pieces are big for us defensively and offensively,” Rust said. “We pride ourselves on that, and we’ve been excellent there. We’ve been mediocre for the last five, six games in set pieces. We actually had a conversation about it after our game on Tuesday, that we needed to improve that area and sharpen. To score two goals on set pieces tonight was big for the group.”

The Vikings continue to give local teams a hard 80 minutes, as the team managed to draw with Gulf Coast, Naples, Bonita Springs, and Venice, while falling short by one goal against LaBelle last week and Canterbury on Thursday night.

“We knew it was going to be an absolute dogfight,” Rust added. “We knew Verot was on a very good run. They’ve had some good results in the last few weeks.”

— Alex Martin

Gateway 3, East Lee 2: Quen Albert scored two goals for the Eagles, while Chandy Thegu added one goal to the win.

Immokalee 0, Gulf Coast 0: Anthony Donofrio tallied 10 saves in the tie for the Sharks.

Girls Soccer

Evangelical Christian 8, St. John Neumann 1: Alexa Bereczki led the Sentinels to a Private 8 Championship win with four goals and one assist. Rachel Wiltgen had two goals, while Taylor Foss and Claire Valentine added one goal and one assist each. Eighth-grader Gianna Fabrizi contributed two assists in the win.

Seacrest Country Day 2, First Baptist 2 (3-1 on PKs): After ending regulation tied at 2-2, Kennedy Barnaby, Brooke Shefsky, and Charlotte Cook scored in penalty kicks to secure third place for the Stingrays in the Private 8 Tournament.

Fort Myers 8, South Fort Myers 0: Brie Brockingham notched a hat-trick in the Green Wave win.

Boys Basketball

Naples 73, Gulf Coast 72: Marques Leon tallied 23 points for the Golden Eagles, while Joshua Similian tacked on 13 points in the win. Davion Grant led the Sharks with 16 points.

Golden Gate 66, Community School 63: Jackson McAdams led CSN with 16 points in the loss, while Charley Costa and Dom Hoge added 15 points each.

Girls Basketball

Gulf Coast 42, Naples 32: Annika Andersen had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists for Naples. Georgia Kent had 9 steals, 7 rebounds, 6 points, and 2 assists for the Golden Eagles.

LaBelle 49, Lake Placid 21: Kayla Collins led all scorers with 24 points along with 15 rebounds, notching her 16th double-double this season.

Lehigh 55, Moore Haven 41

WEDNESDAY

Girls Basketball

Oasis 38, Imagine School 29: The Sharks were led by Brynn Stambaugh, who tallied 15 Points. Maci Stambaugh scored 12 points, while Emma Osinski and Candice Barr scored 9 points and 2 points respectively in the win.

Boys Basketball

Naples 93, Cypress Lake 56: Charlie Ricketts had 25 points for the Golden Eagles, and Jaden Wolner tallied 20 points. Marques Leon added 19 points for Naples.

Girls Soccer

Cape Coral 9, East Lee 1: Cameron Fallacara notched five goals and one assist in the Seahawks win. Mikala Allen had 2 goals and 3 assists, while Angelina Toro tacked on one goal and one assist. Abby Mourning had one goal, Kaysie Taylor added two assists, and Olivia Toro had one assist for Cape Coral.

TUESDAY

Girls Soccer

Naples 3, Estero 0: The Golden Eagle defense led Naples to their first win over the Wildcats in 3,277 days after a shutout win on Tuesday evening.

The Golden Eagles entered Tuesday's game 0-10-2 against Estero since 2014, and earned the decisive win behind a defensive clinic in the second half. Stephan Miranda recorded her second shutout of the year in net.

“That second half, we played a really focused 40 minutes,” said Naples head coach Adam Weikel. “And that’s what I’ve been asking for; put 40-minute sessions together and be focused the entire time.”

The first twenty minutes of action saw both squads battle back-and-forth. While both Estero (10-3-0) and Naples had clean looks at the net, neither team could capitalize thanks to strong goalie play.

Then, in the 27th minute, Bridgette Graney put a good pass in front of Elaina Loden, who chipped in a long-ball just above the Estero keeper to break the ice for the Golden Eagles.

Loden struck again less than a minute later, dribbling herself open off a pass from Lucy Froitzheim to score her second goal of the night. Froitzheim was dominant in the middle, using her size to exploit the Wildcat defense.

“We needed to continue to find quick outlets, get one-two touches, and take our space,” Weikel said. “And as soon as we started moving off the ball, things opened for us and we were able to get good results.”

In the second half Naples (8-0-3) controlled the ball well, moving with cohesion and fluidity while getting plenty of good shots off. In the 54th minute, Froitzheim got the rebound off a corner from Graney, putting in a header that ballooned the Golden Eagle lead to 3-0.

Naples hasn’t conceded a goal since early December, and recorded their fourth shutout in five games in the win. Molly Vickaryous was instrumental in the shutout, coming up with timely stops and giving the Golden Eagles the momentum to get out and run.

“One of the things we strive for as a program is to be highly organized, and we lost a lot of defense last year but I had no worries about the girls coming in because they know the system,” Weikel said. “But their commitment to win every first ball is something that we try to do, and tonight t heywere able to win a majority of those first balls. That really helped us kind of deflate them but also motivate us to move forward.”

With such a strong effort on defense, Naples is poised to enter the postseason with plenty of momentum. Weikel says his squad is looking to build on their effectiveness as the season comes to a close.

“It gives us confidence,” Weikel said. “We want to be peaking at the right time, we’re continuing the upward trajectory and limiting the dips in form. So we want to be at our best come the end of this week and heading into the playoffs."

— Nick Wilson

Evangelical Christian 4, First Baptist 1: The Sentinels scored a huge win over the Lions in the semifinal round of the Private 8 tournament, jumping out to a 3-0 lead at halftime. Emma Blackwell, Gianna Fabrizi, Taylor Foss, and Thalia Silva all scored for ECS, which will take on Neumann for the Private 8 title on Thursday.

North Port 6, Fort Myers 1: The Green Wave were handed their fourth consecutive loss of the season to the Bobcats on Tuesday.

Cape Coral 3, Charlotte 0: Angelina Toro led the Seahawks with a pair of goals, while Cameron Fallacara scored a goal and notched an assist. Both Mikala Allen and Kaysie Taylor assisted once for Cape Coral.

Oasis 4, Cypress Lake 1: Jaclynn Mars netted a pair of goals while adding an assist for Oasis, while Samantha Chitu had a goal and an assist. Ashley Lynn scored once, while Nevaeh Rogers and Mackenzie Canney both assisted once.

St. John Neumann 2, Seacrest Country Day 1: In the loss, Brooke Shefsky netted a goal for the Stingrays.

Boys Soccer

Barron Collier 1, Gulf Coast 0: In a stunner, the Cougars downed the Sharks Tuesday night. For Gulf Coast, it's just their second loss of the season and their first loss to Barron Collier since Nov. 13, 2017.

Naples 3, Estero 1: Jose Valdez, Harvey Sarajian, and Ty Collins all found the back of the net for the Golden Eagles, who will enter the district tournament with a 10-3-3 record.

Fort Myers 1, Lely 0: The Green Wave scored a road win over the Trojans, as Michael Krzeminski netted the lone goal. Jack Krzeminski had a shutout in net for Fort Myers.

Canterbury 7, Evangelical Christian 0: The Cougars handled business against the Sentinels, and will look to defend their Private 8 title against Bishop Verot on Thursday. Julian Viacava scored four goals, with Dusty Dwyer adding a goal and a pair of assists. Diego Monteiro and Riley Johnson also scored once for Canterbury.

Bishop Verot 8, SFCA 0: The Vikings continued their solid stretch, having lost just one match in their previous 10 games. Verot will travel to Canterbury for the Private 8 title come Thursday night.

Gateway 1, Island Coast 1: The Eagles got a late second half goal from Brendan Toscano, who was assisted by Ryan Thompson.

Girls Basketball

St. John Neumann 51, First Baptist 46: The Celtics scraped by with a win over the Lions, as Elise Flannery went a perfect 14-of-14 from the line, while adding 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Sydney Martin added 14 points and 10 rebounds against her former team.

Naples 55, Golden Gate 49: Leading the Golden Eagles was Annika Andersen, who dropped 28 points against the Titans. Andersen added seven steals, while Georgia Kent had 9 points and 9 rebounds. Abby Byrd had 3 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals for Naples.

South Fort Myers 64, Bonita Springs 15: Leading the way for South was Jayda Green, who had 19 points. Haley Lang pitched in with 12, while Makayla Sprague and Jaylin Rivera had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Lehigh 44, Mariner 39: Faith Plummer scored 23 to lead the Lightning.

Bishop Verot 49, SFCA 11: Cameron O'Halleran and Desirae Wallace led the Vikings with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Marco Island 51, Oasis 46: Brynn Stambaugh had 24 points for the Sharks, while Emma Osinski added 12 in the loss.

Ida Baker 55, Cypress Lake 22: Maia Berdebes dropped 26 for Ida Baker and Nicole Bono added 16. Bri Madore led the Panthers with 10 points.

Evangelical Christian 70, Seacrest Country Day 31

Boys Basketball

Community School 65, Canterbury 56: Aidan Doyle had 10 points and 8 assists for the Seahawks in the Private 8 semifinals, while Jackson McAdams ended with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Grayson Kerscher had 8 points and 10 rebounds, while Brennan Ringhofer added 14 points and 5 steals.

Seacrest Country Day 71, Bishop Verot 55: Nick Cassano scored 24 points, while Malachi Plummer and Ben Cassano both scored 12 in the win.

Evangelical Christian 60, SFCA 29: Gavin Williams led ECS with 21 points, while Ashton Peterson had 20 points and 9 rebounds. AJ Rivera scored 12 to get the Sentinels back in the win column.

MONDAY

Girls Basketball

Fort Myers 50, Gulf Coast 40: Tyra Brown had a double-double for the Greenies, scoring 14 points while adding 10 rebounds. Jadah Toombs chipped in with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 steals. In the loss for the Sharks, Tyrah Townsend had 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Maddie Leslie had 17 points.

St. Joseph's (Mo.) 62, Bishop Verot 24: Cameron O'Halleran had 12 points for the Vikings in the loss, while Carlyn Kelly added 5 points.

Evangelical Christian 64, South Fort Myers 53: In the loss for the Wolfpack, Jayda Green scored 19 points, while Kimber Swift scored 10.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: High School Sports Report: Soccer and Basketball scores for Jan. 16-21