Stephens joins 1,000-point club in Palmetto girls basketball victory

Senior Tina Stephens scored a season-high 30 points to join the 1,000-point club and lead Palmetto High School to a 60-28 victory against Venice in girls basketball on Thursday night.

Stephens entered the game with 999 points and made quick work of getting the milestone basket. She narrowly missed a triple double, adding 17 rebounds and nine blocks against the Indians.

Palmetto (14-5, 6-2 Class 7A-District 11) led 31-17 at the half and pulled away after the break. The Tigers return to action Tuesday with a home game against Lakewood Ranch.

Manatee 55, Braden River 51: The Hurricanes (15-6, 3-3 district) overcame a 30-21 deficit at halftime to beat the visiting Pirates. Jada Mullinex and Bri Purrington each had 14 points, and Deanay Watson scored 13 points. Manatee’s next game is at home on Tuesday against Sarasota.

Saint Stephen’s 55, Canterbury 19: The Falcons (5-7) rolled to a 40-10 lead at halftime and coasted the rest of the way in the nondistrict game in Fort Myers.

Lenae Jones led all scorers with 23, and Claudia Sbaschnik finished with 18. The Falcons are home Friday against Tampa Prep. Game time is 6 p.m.

Southeast 63, St. Petersburg Gibbs 17: Amoni Waiters and Charmaine Murray finished with double doubles to lead host Southeast (12-8, 6-2). Waiters finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Murray contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds. Southeast plays host to Northeast on Friday. game time is 7:30 p.m.

Booker 57, Cardinal Mooney 32: Jacqueline Kulle led all scorers with 20 points to lead visiting Cardinal Mooney (3-16) in the loss. The Cougars play at Berkeley Prep on Tuesday.

Lakewood Ranch 67, Sarasota 47: The Mustangs slowly pulled away in the second half after leading by only three, 28-25, at halftime. LaDazhia Williams scored 18 to lead the Mustangs (19-2, 8-0).

Boys basketball

Saint Stephen’s 42, Keswick Christian 39: Jordon Murrell scored 16 and Cade Westberry added 14 to lead the Falcons (7-8) to victory in a nondistrict game in St. Petersburg.

Saint Stephen’s held a slim lead throughout much of the fourth quarter until Keswick Christian took a 1-point lead with approximately 40 seconds left. Murrell gave the Falcons the lead again with a jumper from just inside the free throw line with approximately 13 seconds left. Keswick Christian missed a shot on the ensuing possession, was forced to foul and watched the Falcons sink both to complete the scoring.

Saint Stephen’s returns to action Friday at Gulf Coast HEAT.

Sarasota 69, Bradenton Christian 58: Dom Otteni scored a game-high 21 points, but it wasn’t enough for the host Panthers (9-7) in the nondistrict game. Bradenton Christian trailed by only four with a minute to play, but was forced to foul and Sarasota made its free throws to pull away.

In addition to Otteni, the Panthers received big games from A.J. Schewe (15 points) and Kevin Etienne (15 points, 10 rebounds).

Bradenton Christian next plays at Out-of-Door Academy on Friday in a key district game. Bradenton Christian, which beat ODA in the team’s first meeting, trails the first-place Thunder by a game in the loss column.

Palmetto 65, Venice 59 (OT): Dequan Kirce scored a game-high 23 points to lead host Palmetto (8-6). Matteo Whelton finished with 20 points. Palmetto River returns to action Tuesday at Braden River. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Boys soccer

Palmetto 8, Booker 0: Frank Arroyo scored thrice, Jorge Morales scored twice and Fred Manriquez, Marcos Ortiz and Emmanuel Martinez scored once each to lead Palmetto (16-1-1). Daniel Sanchez recorded his first shutout. Palmetto plays host to Arcadia DeSoto County on Tuesday.

Girls soccer

Out-of-Door Academy 2, Tampa Prep 0: The Thunder won its regular-season finale.

This story was originally published January 13, 2017 at 12:12 AM with the headline "Stephens joins 1,000-point club in Palmetto girls basketball victory."