High school roundup: Holiday Hoopfest day four results
FRIDAY
Bishop Verot Holiday Hoopfest
Evans 66, Bishop Verot 53: Three-point shots in the first quarter sunk Bishop Verot in a 66-53 loss to Evans Friday night in the semifinals of the Holiday Hoopfest at Bishop John J. Nevins Gymnasium.The Vikings (9-2) will face Riverside (S.C.) in the third-place game on Saturday at 12:30. Evans will compete against Loyola (Ill.) for the championship at 2:15.The Trojans (10-3) from Orlando came out shooting, with Jermaine Hardy opening with a triple. Arosco Dubois hit three straight three-pointers to take a 14-3 lead, prompting Verot coach Matt Herting to call time out."That did do us in," Herting said. "We dug ourselves a hole. We were in that matchup zone that looked so good but they really shot it well, especially No. 10, the Dubois kid.The Vikings meanwhile struggled to finish their shots, making only 3 of 11 shots during the first period. The Trojans built up a 21-8 lead at the end of the quarter."We were getting to the basket consistently," Herting said. I don't know if we were hurrying it because we thought they would get blocked or we were nervous because they're pretty good and this is the semifinals, I'm not really sure. But we can't not make easy plays."Jerry Ashley opened the second quarter with a two-hand jam to liven things up, and the Vikings adjusted to better defend against the 3-point shot. But Evans shifted its shot selection to short and mid-range jumpers. After going on an 8-0 run, they went into the locker room with a 38-18 lead.Though the Trojans led by as much as 26 in the third quarter, their offense was starting to cool and there were signs that the Vikings might have it in them to make a run. Gavin Williams opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point bucket.Midway through the period, Leroy Roker took over much of the offense by driving into the lane. He made two layups and then drew two fouls, making both free throws each time."He really picked it up at the end after struggling a little bit early, missing a couple of easy ones, which he usually doesn't do.The Vikings were able to get the deficit to 11 points, but fatigue took over in the last minute and that was as close as it got.Ashley, Williams, and Roker each made 6 field goals and each scored 17 points. Ashley gathered 15 rebounds to go with that for a double-double.
Loyola (Ill.) 42, Riverside 28 (semifinal)
LaSalle 61, Port Charlotte 57 (consolation round)
Mason (Ohio) 54, Seminole 53 (consolation round)
Cardinal Gibbons 53, Charlotte 39 (consolation round)
Fort Myers 37, Doral Academy 34: Marquielle Tory led the Green Wave with 10 points in the consolation round game.
Lehigh 64, Naples 56 (2 OT): Justin Gollopp led the Lightning with 22 points, including three 3-pointers. Etienne made four 3-pointers in a 13-point performance. James Bryant added 10 points. Lehigh will face Doral in a consolation game at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
Golden Gate 43, St. John Paul II 41: Sam Powell accounted for more than half of his team's scoring with 25 points, including 4 3-pointers, in the consolation round win.
Other area results:
Gateway Charter 72, Coral Glades 59: A double-double from Pat Johnson (16 points, 11 rebounds) led the Griffins to a win in the Sun Bash tournament in Tampa on Friday afternoon. Noah Cutler finished with 10 points and eight assists, while Gabe Timmons added seven points, six rebounds, and five assists in the win. Trey Fogle tacked on nine points and five boards.
Jupiter 35, Palmetto Ridge 32: The Bears' buzzer-beater couldn't connect in their semifinal loss in the John Carroll New Year's Tournament, just their second defeat of the year (11-2).
Girls Basketball
St. John Neumann 61, Indian Hills (Ohio) 54: Another big double-double in the books for Sophia McCartney, who tallied 20 points and 21 rebounds in the Celtic win. Mylee Van de Wouw finished with 18 points, and Sydney Martin added 12 points.
Clearwater 48, Bishop Verot 33: Brynn Stambaugh had eight points in the Vikings' loss. Cameron O'Halloran finished with seven points.
THURSDAY
Bishop Verot Holiday Hoopfest
Evans 60, La Salle (Ohio) 55 (quarterfinal)
Bishop Verot 51, Port Charlotte 43 (quarterfinal)
Mason (Ohio) 59, Riverside (S.C) 50 (quarterfinal)
Loyola (Ill.) 43, Seminole 21 (quarterfinal)
St. John Paul II 57, Naples 54 (consolation round)
Golden Gate 44, Lehigh 35 (consolation round)
Fort Myers 63, Cardinal Gibbons 58 (consolation round)
Doral Academy 38, Charlotte 36 (consolation round)
Girls Basketball
Bishop Verot 51, St. Petersburg 34: Cameron O'Halloran led the Vikings with 20 points, and Caroline Ward added 11 points in the win.
St. John Neumann 64, Lemon Bay 21: The Celtics' defense paved the way to a stout win over Lemon Bay, while Sydney Martin dropped 23 points. Sophia McCartney finished with 18 points and 17 boards.
WEDNESDAY
Bishop Verot Holiday Hoopfest
Bishop Verot 71, St. John Paul II 35: The dynamic duo of Gavin Willians and Leroy Roker powered Bishop Verot to a second-half running clock victory Wednesday night in the first round of the Holiday Hoopfest.
A box-and-one defense by the Panthers put the brakes on a hot shooting Williams who poured in 16 points in the first nine minutes of the game.
That’s when Roker stepped up driving his way through Panther defenders for 20 points. Williams would finish with 23.
The Panthers refused to roll over in the first half dominating the boards much to the consternation of Vikings’ head coach Mark Herting.
“I was offensive and defensive rebounding wasn’t very good, Julian Thompson and Mario Forbes gave us some problems,” said Herting.
Forbes would end up leading St. John Paul II with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Vikings big man Jerry Ashley stepped up to the challenge and started vacuuming the glass, finishing the night with 13 rebounds, seven blocks, and 11 points.
But it was the backcourt play of Williams and Roker that punished the Panthers. The duo grabbed four steals apiece and helped force 17 Panther turnovers.
Roker’s play in particular brought praise. “When you have Leroy, it makes a big difference,” said Herting.
Bishop Verot moves on to the quarterfinals and plays Port Charlotte on Thursday.
-John Rinkenbaugh
Evans 90, Naples 43: Speed kills and Evans brought a court full of it along with a pressing defense that forced 28 Naples turnovers Wednesday night in the first round of the Holiday Hoopfest.
The relentless ball-hawking by the Trojans resulted in 19 steals and countless layups.
The Golden Eagles fought back with a press of its own and brought waves of players off the bench in an effort to stay in the game.
Evans managed to push its lead to 35 points in the third quarter resulting in a running clock. Antonio Pollard led the Trojans with 24 points.
Jaden Wolner and Adrian Llamo scored 14 points each to lead Naples.
“We’ve got to be playing good by February. We only got our football players out four weeks ago and we’re still trying to figure out the rotation,” said Naples head coach Garrett Hull.
Naples will play Lehigh on Thursday in the tournament consolation round.
-John Rinkenbaugh
Loyola (Ill.) 41, Fort Myers 27: The Green Wave gave one of Chicagoland's top 25 teams a scare, leading at halftime, but could not finish off the upset in a 41-27 defeat to the Ramblers of Loyola Academy. The Green Wave held a 16-13 lead at the break, but were outscored 28-11 in the final 16 minutes to fall into the consolation rounds. James Michel knocked down three three-pointers off the bench to lead the Green Wave with nine points, while the Ramblers were also led by a bench player, Donovan Robinson, who led all scorers with eleven points.
La Salle 49, Lehigh 33: The Lightning started fast against one of the two Ohio teams in the bracket, jumping out to a 16-9 lead on the Lancers out of Cincinnati. The Lightning went cold from there, scoring just 17 points in the final three quarters in a 49-33 loss to La Salle. Max Etienne was the lone Lightning player in double figures, scoring eleven points on 5-of-8 shooting. Three La Salle starters were in double figures, led by 18 points and four steals from Patrick McLaughlin, who scored 12 of his 18 points from beyond the three-point arc.
Port Charlotte 48, Cardinal Gibbons 41: Port Charlotte clamped down on the Chiefs in the final three quarters to emerge with a 48-41 victory. The notoriously stingy Port Charlotte defense held Gibbons to just nine made field goals on 38 attempts in the final 24 minutes, turning a 17-6 first-quarter deficit into a win. Bonamusa Fullen was the lone Pirate in double figures with ten points. The game's leading scorer was Gibbons' Marcus Perrier, who finished the contest with 15 points.
Riverside 59 (S.C.), Charlotte 33: Riverside showed why they are considered one of the top teams in the state of South Carolina, rolling past the Tarpons by a 25-point margin. Riverside shot better than 50 percent from the field, all while holding the Tarpons, who dropped their fourth consecutive contest, to just 32.5 percent from the field. American University commit Julen Iturbe, ranked as one of the top ten seniors in South Carolina by 247Sports, led the Warriors' effort with 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Jordan Attia was Charlotte's top scorer with nine.
Mason (Ohio) 77, Golden Gate 49: Mason ran the Buckeye State's record to 2-0 on the day, as the Comets from suburban Cincinnati easily dispatched the former tournament hosts. Mason scored 26 points in the opening frame to set the tone for the contest and made nearly half of their three-point attempts with 10 makes on 22 tries. Matt DeBrosse was the leader of the three-point barrage for the Comets, knocking down five shots from long distance to account for 15 of his game-high 19. Sam Powell (14) and Whylkeems Estimond (12) accounted for 26 of the Trojans' 49 points.
Seminole 55, Doral Academy 52 (overtime): Seminole and Doral Academy played what was easily the game of the day at the John J. Nevins Gymnasium, as Seminole's Dom Leide drilled a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Warhawks past the Firebirds. The game went to overtime tied at 46, and the teams made nothing but three-pointers - three from Seminole and two for Doral - before Leide walked it off for Seminole. Colin Way was the day's high scorer with 29 points, while Doral Academy's Martin Nunez made five three-pointers to lead the Firebirds with 15 points.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: SWFL high school roundup: Holiday Hoopfest results
