Lakewood Ranch boys basketball cruises into district final

Damien Gordon scored 19 points and Jack Kelley finished with a double-double to lead Lakewood Ranch past Venice, 71-46, in a Class 8A-District 11 boys basketball semifinal on Wednesday.

With the victory, Lakewood Ranch (23-2) secures a berth in next week’s regional tournament and advances to Friday’s district final against Palmetto. The district final will be at Lakewood Ranch at 7 p.m.

Kelley finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Georges Blauvault contributed 11 points and six rebounds, and Brock Sisson finished with 10 points. Devin Twenty produced seven assists in a short night’s work: The Mustangs starters played approximately three quarters after building a 33-17 lead at halftime.

Dylan Gregoire finished with 14 points to lead Venice, while Jaivon Heiligh finished with 13 and Trent Holloway added 12.

St. Petersburg Gibbs 68, Bayshore 58: In the Class 6A-District 11 semifinals in St. Petersburg, Jaylen Pauley scored 16 points in a losing cause for Bayshore.

Chris Harris added 13 points for the Bruins, who end their season 14-12.

The hosts led 38-30 at halftime.

Boys lacrosse

ODA 20, Sarasota Military 0: Jason Fineberg scored six goals, while Declan McCann finished with four and Leland Wheeler, three, to lead host Out-of-Door Academy in its first district game of the season. Ian Martin and Jimmy Viard had two goals apiece. Kevin Deems, Wylder Meyer and Brad Hansell completed the scoring.

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 12:12 AM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch boys basketball cruises into district final."