ECS Summer Shootout: Gateway Charter edges Bishop Verot, Cape Coral beats ECS to win brackets

Evangelical Christian's Summer Shootout came to a close on Wednesday afternoon, with the Winners' bracket and Consolation bracket being played out after two days of pool play.

Gateway Charter came out on top of the winners' bracket, called the Red Bracket, while Cape Coral won the consolation or White Bracket. Here is a recap of the semifinals and finals of both brackets, as well as standout players from the final day of the tournament.

Note: This tournament uses a target score to end games instead of a traditional four-quarter setup. Teams play three 10-minute quarters, then a target score that is eight points more than the leading team's score is set. Once a team hits that target score, the game is over. (For example, at the end of the third quarter, Team X leads Team Y 52-50. The first team to reach 60 points wins).

Red Bracket Championship: Gateway Charter 59, Bishop Verot 51

The Griffins proved they have a deep, deep squad in the winner’s bracket. Gateway Charter played a full-court zone press for most of the game, which they feasted on. After the first quarter ended knotted up at 16-16, the Griffins began to slip away with the lead thanks to their defensive cohesion.

Gabriel Timmons was disruptive in the passing lanes and ran Gateway Charter’s transition offense with poise. In their half-court sets, Timmons was effective with his drives and had plenty of tough finishes.

Trey Fogle was white-hot from deep in the win but left his fingerprints everywhere else on the game as well. He was fluid in the full-court press and rebounded with aggression on both sides of the floor. Noah Cutler also knocked down his fair share of three-pointers and added tenacious defense to the winning effort.

Gateway Charter’s Pat Johnson went to battle with Bishop Verot’s Jerry Ashley down low in an exciting matchup between two skilled bigs. Johnson was invaluable on defense, anchoring the Griffins' press and shutting down two-on-one fast breaks. The Vikings struggled to get the ball to Ashley, but he made up for it with a solid effort on the offensive glass. He forced Gateway Charter to take some acrobatic layups since he is so quick with backside help, but the Griffins finished plenty of them anyways.

More: Evangelical Christian Summer Shootout: 5 takeaways from the second day of boys basketball event

Miles Jones and Blake Maddox also came up big for the Griffins. Jones, a lengthy and quick forward, wreaked havoc on Bishop Verot from the middle of the zone press. On offense, Jones got anywhere he wanted, knocking down spot-up jumpers and finishing contested layups. Maddox had some key minutes at center off the bench, stretching the floor on offense while staying active on the boards.

For Bishop Verot, Leroy Roker was the spoon that stirred the Vikings’ drink. If not for Roker, the Vikings would’ve had a much more difficult time getting into their half-court offense. Colin Taylor buried some tough jumpers in the loss and kept Gateway Charter’s defense honest while he was on the floor.

Red Bracket Semifinal: Bishop Verot 45, Lehigh 41

The Vikings withstood the Lighting storm in Wednesday’s semifinal behind some timely offense from Taylor and Roker.

The two squads matched up well with each other. Both had quick bigs with good footwork, high-IQ guards, and scoring from the wing.

Lehigh led for most of the first half behind strong play from combo guard Ansel Pagan Jr., who has a fluid jumper and is a versatile defender. Fritz Odege was a force in the paint and finished tough shots over Ashley with fluid footwork.

Bishop Verot started to slip away with the lead late in the third quarter with Roker controlling the offense. The Vikings closed the game out behind some timely triples, including a corner three from Tony Cedeno that he banked in to reach the target score.

Red Bracket Semifinal: Gateway Charter 70, Golden Gate 36

The Griffins put this semifinal out of reach early, starting in a full-court press that forced four straight turnovers and spurred an 18-6 run in the first five minutes.

Cutler and Fogle were letting bombs fly from deep in the first quarter and helped Gateway Charter jump out to a 33-14 lead at the end of the frame.

Sam Powell and Whylkeems Estimond were efficient when the Titans managed to get into their half-court sets. Both are long forwards who can knock down spot-up jumpers and can defend 1-5.

White Bracket Championship: Cape Coral 38, Evangelical Christian 19

The Sentinels, who played three games in three hours, struggled to knock down shots in the loss after the Seahawks started the game with an 11-2 run.

Joe Silva was a Swiss Army knife for Cape Coral. The lengthy forward attacked the zone defense well, set the table, and attacked the glass with success. Judah Bailey brought size in the backcourt and did a good job of getting two feet in the paint on his drives.

ECS on the other hand, just could not buy a bucket. Par for the course in this style of summer tournaments, the Sentinels had simply played a lot of basketball in a short amount of time before making it to the championship. A lot of their shots were short, and it took them over twenty minutes to score ten points.

It wasn’t an issue of effort for ECS as it made clear on the defensive side of the floor. They gang-rebounded well and took timely charges that put stops to Seahawk runs.

But Cape Coral came out on top of the battle on the boards and took advantage of plenty of second opportunities. After their opening run at the start of the first quarter, the Seahawks never led by less than ten points.

White Bracket Semifinal: Cape Coral 50, Oasis 44

The Sharks started the game with full-court pressure that stifled the Seahawks in the first quarter. Cape Coral’s Silva and Bailey slowed the game down and made quick work of the press after the opening frame.

Zach Lounzao was instrumental for Oasis in the back-court. He was quick off the ball and made the Seahawks pay for defensive miscues with smooth and consistent three-pointers. Java Jackson brought size as the ball-handler for the Sharks and made smart plays when he got into the paint.

The Seahawks’ sent a tall lineup out to close the game, and it worked. They corralled rebounds and buried contested shots down the stretch, and came up with big stops before reaching the target score.

White Bracket Semifinal: Evangelical Christian 31, Lely 24

The Sentinels came out on top behind some tough shotmaking from Gavin Williams.

Both squads traded the lead for most of the game. Lely pushed the tempo on offense, which Evangelical Christian handled with good transition defense. Down the stretch, Williams knocked down some difficult jumpers that gave the Sentinels their biggest lead of the game late in the fourth quarter.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: ECS Summer Shootout: Breakdown of boys basketball tournament semifinals, finals