A compilation of high school boys and girls soccer and basketball games in Southwest Florida to be held from November 18th to 23rd, 2024.
Tuesday
women’s basketball
ECS 52, Seacrest Country Day 42: The reigning state champion Sentinels faced a tough test in their season opener against an up-and-coming Stingray team on Tuesday.
Both teams traded blows until the third quarter, but ECS pulled away thanks to a determined performance from junior guard Kellysia Grant, who led all players with 18 points.
One of the turning points in the game came early in the third quarter when Seacrest junior guard Sonya Kiritsa went down with a non-contact knee injury. Kirica, the 2024 News-Press/Napoli Daily News Player of the Year, transferred from Lely after leading the Trojans to the district final last year.
“We hope and pray that nothing goes wrong with her,” ECS head coach Dwayne Donnell said immediately after the win. “Yes, I’m happy that the team won, but I’m disappointed.”
Seacrest head coach Nikita Carty said Kiritsa will be tested, but he believes it is not serious.
“Hopefully she’ll be fine,” he said. “I think she’ll be fine, but we can’t risk it. The first game of the season, we couldn’t put her in there and risk it. We set our expectations to seriously compete. I had it.”
Kirista helped put the Stingrays in front early in a strong first quarter that saw Seacrest extend its lead to 15-9.
The Sentinels began to focus on defense, and Seacrest led 21-19 at the half.
Donnell said during halftime that the coaching staff instilled in Grant, who was limited to four points, to be more aggressive. Driving bravely to the hoop to score or draw contact, she scored seven much-needed points in the third quarter to help the Sentinels stay ahead.
“She came out and played like Kellicia,” Donnell said. “She dominated the game in that short stretch in the third quarter. That’s what you always expect from her.”
The Sentinels increased their lead to 38-32 on a jumper by Nara Smith and free throws by Grant. But the Stingrays refused to leave, scoring on an and-one by senior Taylor Shook and then hitting a 3-pointer from freshman Vicki Cherry to tie the score.
Grant and Smith continued to play aggressively and their team drew critical fouls to get to the line and shake off Seacrest. Smith had nine points, and Ali Mark and Amiyah Green each added eight points.
Shock led the Stingrays with nine points, while younger players like Cherry, Ariya Cabrera and Dailin Delgado promised to play bigger in Kiritsa’s absence.
“We’ve got some younger players, like ninth-graders and eighth-graders, who have come in and stepped up,” Carty said.
The Sentinels are without senior guard Maddie Obersky, the team’s leading scorer last season, as she recovers from an ankle sprain.
Donnell said Obersky’s injury allows him to go deeper on the bench and give the younger players more “lived experience.”
“We know it’s going to help us in the future,” he said.
If Oberski and Kirica are healthy, the matchup between these teams has a chance to develop into a true rivalry. ECS and Seacrest could potentially play three more times this season.
“The future of Southwest Florida basketball is bright,” Carty said.
— Dustin Levy
Monday
women’s soccer
Bishop Belot 10, Northport 2: Jill Hartajja scored four goals and Alivia Muller had two goals to help the Vikings win. Caroline Perkowski added four assists, and Lila Dinkel and Leah Scotti each had two helpers.
Canterbury 8, Port Charlotte 0: Tire Arrigo had five points, Mackenzie Molina (assist) had two, the lone goal and Alyssa LoGuercio had two assists.
boys soccer
Golden Gate 3, Napoli 1: George Barrueco scored twice, Jaden Generio had one goal and Erik Ramos and Luis Barrueco added assists for the Titans.
boy basketball
SFCA 86, Everglades City 78 (OT): Asa Logotic led the Kings with 38 points, followed by Noah Tafoya (13 points) and Riley Link (12 points). Link finished the fourth set with 4 hits for 4 and contributed to King’s victory in OT.
St. John Newman 83 points, Bonita Springs 54 points: Michael Neville led Newman with 22 points, followed by Kyle Shidler (15 points) and Issa Isaac (10 points).
women’s basketball
St. John Newman 51 points, Bonita Springs 11 points: Miley Van de Woer led the Celtics with 19 points, and Maddie Donahue added nine points.
Gulf Coast 67, Cypress Lake 17: Addie Osborne led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points on four 3-pointers. In a total team effort, all 10 players played in each quarter for the Sharks.
