Host Venice falls to Fort Myers while Port Charlotte, Lemon Bay and North Port all get wins
VENICE
As deep as the Riverview Rams dug in on defense, it still wasn’t enough to cool off the red-hot Lehigh Lightning on Saturday night at the fifth annual Battle at the Beach at Venice High.
Senior Jar’Tavius Martin scored a game-high 23 points as the Lightning rolled over the Rams, 69-53.
The high school from Lehigh Acres jumped out to a 21-11 lead by the end of the first quarter. Riverview battled back using a tough zone defense to cut the margin to three points after 6-6 sophomore Malachi Wideman sank a pair of free throws to make it 33-30 with 4:35 still remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Lightning (15-2) turned up the heat on the offensive end, despite turning the ball over 23 times.
“I felt like we were in the game until we had to switch to a man-to-man defense and pressure the basketball,” veteran Riverview coach B.J. Ivey said. “We had to try to run and jump with them, which we didn’t want to do. That just fed into their athleticism and ball movement. They got a lot of easy buckets.
“I think the score might be a little misleading. I thought we played a much closer game than that.”
Wideman paced the Rams (8-7) with 18 points. Junior Tyrus Jackson was also in double figures with 10 points for Riverview.
Lehigh senior Mahovensky Goin added 12 points and sophomore Quinton Desamours contributed 10 more for the Lightning.
Ivey ruptured his right Achilles tendon two days before Christmas while coaching the Rams in practice. He’s been coaching with a massive protective boot and getting around with the help of a small scooter for his injured leg ever since.
“It’s been a struggle,” Ivey said. “It’s been a tough year.
“We are just trying to get better every day. We don’t want to be the best team in mid-January. We want to be there in February. We’re there. We just have to get over the hump a little bit.”
FORT MYERS 51, VENICE 36
The Green Wave (9-7) rebounded from scoring just two points in the first quarter to top the host team.
Veteran Venice coach John Flynn expected more from the Indians (5-10) after they traveled to Braden River and beat the Pirates in a crucial district game on Friday night.
“After coming off a big district win last night on the road, we should have played a heck of a lot better,” Flynn said. “I am disgusted to be honest with you. We should have been ready to go.”
Venice (5-10) didn’t score its first field goal until 6:50 remained in the second quarter when senior southpaw Reese Juckowiak scored on a lay-up. Fort Myers scored its first points of the night on a bucket by Michael Roberts with only 21 seconds were left in the first quarter.
Tommy Cox came off the bench to lead the victors with 11 points. Juckowiak paced the Indians with a game-high 12 points.
PORT CHARLOTTE 72, SARASOTA 51
Junior forward Tyler Perry got the Pirates off to a quick start in the opening game, scoring 13 of his 21 points in the first quarter.
Port Charlotte (10-3) did not break the game open until a 21-13 run in the third quarter. Junior forward Brandon Gainey notched 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half for the Pirates.
Matt Russo (13 points) and Kaleb Fields (10) led the Sailors (4-10) in scoring.
LEMON BAY 78, MIAMI MONSIGNOR PACE 59
The Manta Rays had their running shoes on early, scoring the first six points and jumping to a 9-1 lead. Fast-breaking Lemon Bay (9-6) opened a double-digit lead at 24-14 after the first quarter and led 44-25 at halftime.
Junior forward Hayden Wolff tallied 11 points in the first quarter and 17 in the opening half. Senior guards Luke Morrill and Michael Reid each scored 12 for Lemon Bay, which owned a 31-point lead in the fourth quarter. All 12 Manta Rays reached the scoring column.
Monsignor Pace (10-7) got 11 points from Chris Carter, nine from beyond the arc.
NORTH PORT 58, TAMPA CHAMBERLAIN 22
The Bobcats turned in their final defensive performance of the season, holding the Chiefs to 3, 4 and 6 points, respectively, in the first three quarters.
North Port (12-4) scored the first 12 points of the game, holding Chamberlain (2-11) without a point for the first 5 minutes, 34 seconds and without a field goal for the first 6:15.
Senior guard Bryan O’Boyle, who set the school record for points in a game with 41 Friday against Fort Myers Riverdale, led the way with 14, including 10 in the first half. Senior forwards Ben Via (12), Adam Cohen (11) and Aaron Dismukes (10) all reached double figures in scoring.
The Bobcats started a running clock with 7:08 remaining after going up 49-13.