HS Roundup: Barron Collier edges SFCA in overtime thriller; FBA girls stun Naples

A roundup of high school games played on Monday, Nov. 29 and Tuesday, Nov. 30:

Boys Basketball

Barron Collier 82, SFCA 77 (OT)

The fans in attendance got their money’s worth inside the Cougar Den Tuesday night.

In a game between The News-Press/Naples Daily News Preseason No. 1 and No. 2 teams, Barron Collier came out on top over the King’s, winning 82-77 in an overtime thriller.

“Big game coming in,” Barron Collier coach David Watts said. “Everybody out here had us losing. Let’s make sure we understand that. I know we were going to win. It’s about matchups. Everybody plays hard, any day somebody could lose.

“We weren’t going to lose tonight. Our guys wanted to win, we wanted to put on a show for the crowd, and show that we’re one of the best teams in Southwest Florida.”

In a game where neither team could pull away, it was only fitting that the game came down to the final play in regulation.

Down 72-69, SFCA guard Josh Rogosich was in the corner, where he took a three. Barron center Yvens Paul went up to try and get a piece of the shot as the horn sounded, but he was unable and fouled Rogosich on his way down.

That meant three huge free throws for Mike Bonilla and his team, to try and send the game to overtime without Paul, who fouled out on that play.

Rogosich nailed all three from the line, and gave a lengthy stare down towards the Barron Collier student section after before being greeted by his teammates.

“Big time play,” Watts added. “They called the foul, he made the shots. That’s a great team over there. We came ready to play. We took a hard loss on Saturday. We regrouped and ran it back.”

The Cougars were clutch from beyond the arc in the overtime period, as Kai Watts and Bryce Clayton nailed back-to-back triples to stretch the lead to 80-74 with 1:28 remaining in overtime.

SFCA’s Jay White responded with a trey with 29.8 seconds remaining to cut the lead in half, but that was as close as the King’s were going to get. White almost had a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists for SFCA, while Yadniel Sanabria added 20 points.

“That’s big time basketball,” Watts said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from those two guys. They’re leaders, Kai is underrated, big time. Nobody talks about Kai, but he played defense against one of the best guards in Lee County all night. I think he did a great job. He kept them from getting in their offense.

“Jay White’s a great player, Kai Watts is a great player. He stepped up and hit big shots, and I expect that from him.”

For Barron, Anthony Cancerelli led the way with 25 points, while Clayton had 17. Paul had 14 points, including some ferocious put back dunks that sent the Cougar Den into load roars.

The Cougars (2-1) will face Immokalee on Thursday, while SFCA (3-1) gets a week off before playing Lely.

South Fort Myers 61, Gulf Coast 54: The Wolfpack were led by sophomore Blake Maddox with 23 points in the win over the Sharks. Anthony Ferguson added 16 points and 10 rebounds while Carson Daugherty had 12 points on four made 3-pointers.

Seacrest Country Day 69, Lely 56: Seacrest (2-2) went on a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter and ended up pulling away with a win. Rocco Roppo, Tarik Islamovic and Nick Cassano were all in double figures for the Stingrays. Gabe Czapla was one point away from a double-double, finishing with 9 points and 11 rebounds. Lely (0-1) was led by Conor Peyton with 16 points.

Canterbury 50, Bishop Verot 40: The Cougars notched a season-opening win over the Vikings, as Leroy Roker led all scorers with 17 points. Kendahl Jackson added 14 more in the win. Canterbury is set to play Gateway Charter at 1 p.m. Friday in an in-school game.

Lehigh 73, DeSoto County 45: The Lightning (1-0) picked up their first win of the season thanks to a great offensive performance over the Bulldogs (0-2). Cam Humphrey led Lehigh in scoring with 19 points, followed by Avant Upshaw with 14, and Yanzel Pagan with 13.

St. John Neumann 46, Cypress Lake 36: Danny Wall led the Celtics (1-1) with 12 points as they took down the Panthers (0-3). Jacque Duversone scored a team-high 12 points for Cypress Lake.

Gateway High 73, East Lee 47: No stats provided.

Mariner 84, Riverdale 51: No stats provided.

Girls Basketball

FBA 45, Naples 43

Despite losing star forward Sydney Martin to Naples, the Lions found a way to get past the Golden Eagles in their season opener Tuesday night, winning 45-43.

In a game where there weren’t a ton of wide-open looks for both sides, free throws mattered, especially in the second half. Zara Stewart found her way to the line more often than not and was clutch for the Lions (1-0). The freshman finished with a game-high 17 points.

“We graduated three seniors,” FBA coach Ray Casey said. “We had another starter transfer out. So for us, to come out in our first game and to compete hard and to finish a game on the road, Zara’s free throws were big to ice it.”

Despite being down 14-8 late in the second half, Naples put it together for a stretch, going on an 11-0 run to take a 19-14 lead, which was their largest lead of the game. From there, a quick 5-0 run by the Lions to end the first half and open the second half made the game a one-possession game throughout the second half.

“Every team knows that basketball is a game of runs,” Casey added. “It’s one thing to give a punch, metaphorically speaking, it’s another one to take one, and be able to counter. We settled down, countered, and began to take care of the basketball and executed.

“As I said during a timeout: ‘We’re on the road, a close game, take care of the basketball down the stretch, and whoever gets the last two or three rebounds is going to win the game.’”

Freshman Maleda Azunque had an impressive regular season debut, finishing with 10 points and 15 rebounds, giving her the first double-double of her high school career. Grace Dean, who hadn’t played a high school basketball game in nearly 2 1/2 years, finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds, including the game-sealing board after Georgia Kent missed her second free throw with just under 10 seconds remaining.

“We talked about that a lot coming into the game,” Casey said. “The tale of the tape so to speak was going to be the rebounding battle. We knew we had to fight for everything. We necessarily didn’t have a lot of size, but we talked about whenever the shooter is shooting, make sure we have four people going at the glass. They continued to scrap and battle for everything.”

For Naples, Martin ended the game with five points and nine rebounds, while Molly Richards had a team-high 15 points. Teagan D’Elia added eight points, while Meaghan McKernan gave the Golden Eagles a spark off the bench with seven points.

FBA plays host to SFCA on Thursday, while Naples will look to rebound against Bishop Verot.

St. John Neumann 69, Palmetto Ridge 44: Four Neumann girls found their way in double figures, as Leah Martin-Gonzales led the way with 20 points. Sophia McCartney added 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Elise Flannery and Gracie McCartney scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Neumann takes on ECS for the second time this season on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

CSN 53, Barron Collier 39: The Seahawks handed the Cougars their second loss of the year inside the Cougar Den Tuesday evening. Kiara Cabrera led the way with 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals, while Elly Beshears had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Savannah Baker had a team-high 12 rebounds for CSN.

In the loss for Barron, Deydra Ramos had 19 points.

Cape Coral 67, North Fort Myers 24: The Seahawks (4-0) stay undefeated to begin the season after defeating the Red Knights (0-4). Nicole Rodriguez finished with a double-double for Cape Coral with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Kylah Babernitch almost notched the triple-double with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.

South Fort Myers 58, LaBelle 34: The Wolfpack (3-0) remain unbeaten this season after defeating the Cowgirls (2-2). Purdue commit Addison Potts earned herself a double-double, finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Oasis 52, Bonita Springs 46: The Sharks (3-1) were led by Gabby Goldberg with 19 points, while Emma Osinski added 17 points in the win over the Bull Sharks (1-2).

Golden Gate 48, Lehigh 32: Gabby Wetzel led the Titans (3-1) with 15 points while Mariah Williams added 13 points. In the loss, Faith Plummer led the Lightning (0-3) with 15 points.

Mariner 60, Riverdale 19: Valentina Maldonado-Reyes led the Tritons with 14 points, senior guards Maria Minto and Charly Cotugno scored 10 apiece.

Boys Soccer

Barron Collier 3, Canterbury 0: The home Cougars stunned the Class 2A defending state champs in Naples Tuesday, notching a signature win over the No. 2 team in the latest News-Press/Naples Daily News Power Rankings.

An early save by Barron goalkeeper Nolan Honorio set the tone for the match, as Canterbury's Sam Schoensee was unable to capitalize. Honorio added seven more saves to earn the clean sheet.

"It was a long tough week for us after a disappointing loss to Golden Gate, but the team was anxious to prove that one game does not define your season," Barron Collier coach John Damasco said. "The same goes for this game. It is a long season and we will need to show up every game willing to outwork, outplay and outlast every one we play."

Raul Ramos, Emerson LaOrden, and Robbie Hunterfor each found the back of the net on 2020-21 Southwest Florida Boys Soccer Player of the Year Chase Johnson.

Riverdale 3, Mariner 0: The Raiders captured their first win on the road against the Tritons in 12 years, as all three goals came in the second half on freshman keeper Federico Buitrago.

Sophomore Jacob Glover had three saves in the first half, while Federico had four in the second half. The Tritons (4-0-2) struggled offensively and were unable to garner a shot on goal.

Gulf Coast 8, Lehigh 1: The Sharks saw seven different players reach the back of the net in their win over the Lightning. Leading Gulf Coast in scoring was Manny Pacheco, who finished with two goals.

Bishop Verot 3, CSN 3: Luke Antonelli was one of three goal scorers as Verot tied with the Seahawks.

Cape Coral 6, North Fort Myers 1: Lucas Rosales netted three goals to led the Seahawks over the Red Knights.

Girls Soccer

Mariner 7, Riverdale 1: Freshman Caroline Pelkofski scored the opening goal, off a pass from sophomore Ryleigh Acosta. Acosta led the way with two goals and three assists, while Brooke Yount chipped in a pair. Arianna McIntyre, Sarah Paddock, and Pelkofski scored one apiece for the Tritons.

North Fort Myers 0, Cape Coral 0: The Red Knights and Seahawks battled it out to a draw at Moody Field after a defensive battle. Goalkeeper Destiny Lowe finished the game with 14 saves earning the clean sheet for the Seahawks against No. 1 team in the latest News-Press/Naples Daily News Power Rankings.

Gulf Coast 4, Venice 2: Daniela Justiniano's team made a statement against Venice, winning 4-2 at Tudryn Field.

Bishop Verot 7, CSN 1: Alyvia Mueller had three goals to lead the Vikings (5-0-0) over the Seahawks (0-2-0). FGCU signee Kendal Gargiula had one goal and a pair of assists.

ECS 8, SFCA 0: The Sentinels (1-4-0) picked up their first win of the season by shutting out the King's (2-1-0) in impressive fashion. Claire Valentine lead the way with three goals and two assists while Rachel Wiltgen netted two goals.

Fort Myers 5, Ida Baker 1: The Green Wave (2-3-0) were led by McKenzie Root over the Bulldogs (4-2-0) to end a three-game skid.

Estero 15, Immokalee 0: Estero senior Isabella Gyurich set the school record for most goals in a game against Immokalee in the 15-0 win. Gyurich, a North Greenville University signee, posted six goals.

"It's a great feeling to know all the hard work has paid off," Gyurich said. "Now I get to make my mark on my school my senior year and grateful I get to do it with my amazing teammates/coaches supporting me."

Dunbar 2, Gateway 2: Grace Coombs and Ezra Dillihay scored for the Eagles (0-4-2) as they tied the Tigers (0-3-1).

Naples 4, Fort Myers 1: Lucy Froitzheim powered the Golden Eagles (1-2-0) to their first win of the season over the Greenies. The junior midfielder ended the night with a hat trick to lead the Naples attack, while Isabel Greening added a fourth goal for Adam Weikel's squad.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: HS Roundup: Barron Collier boys down SFCA in overtime thriller; FBA beats Naples