PREP SPORTS ROUNDUP | Bradenton Christian, Lakewood Ranch boys basketball teams post big wins
Ryan Leunk scored a season-high 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and four other Bradenton Christian players scored in double figures as the boys basketball team routed visiting Bayshore 108-50 on Friday.
The Panthers more than doubled up the Bruins on senior night with help from Trent Bell (20 points), J.T. Noellert (14 points, 10 rebounds), Jake Lister (12 points) and Dominick Otteni (11 points).
Vincent Rehfeldt added 12 assists, and Justin Aracena chipped in eight points and 17 rebounds for Bradenton Christian (21-2).
Lakewood Ranch 81, Braden River 68 -- The host Mustangs outscored the Pirates, 21-12, in the fourth quarter to pull away and finish an undefeated Class 7A-District 11 season.
Jack Kelley led five players in double figures with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Damien Gordon added 16 and Devin Twenty finished with 12 points. Sam Hester and Brock Sisson contributed 11 points each.
Lakewood Ranch (17-4, 8-0) finished with 13 3-pointers and shot 12 of 13 from the line. Dioni Cason led Braden River with 19 points, including 16 in the first half. His effort helped the Pirates trail by only one at intermission, 38-37. Curtis Cobb scored 16, and Daniel Tart finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
St. Pete Catholic 57, SAINT Stephen's 31 -- The host Barons pulled away in the second half after leading by only five at intermission, 23-18. Jordan Edwards led the Falcons (5-16, 3-9 Class 3A, District 8) with 13 points and five rebounds. Nick Runde added eight points and seven rebounds.
Southeast 67, St. Petersburg Lakewood 54 -- Tre Alexandrea scored 19 points and Keives Brooks and Ronald Taylor each had 10 as the host Bruins (14-7, 7-3 Class 5A, District 11) clinched the No. 2 spot in the district.
Girls basketball
Bradenton Christian 52, Bayshore 39 -- The host Panthers avenged a one-point loss to the Bruins in the Smoothie King Classic last month in their regular-season finale.
Bailey Sikkema's 15 points and six rebounds led Bradenton Christian (14-5) in the nondistrict game. Senior Carley Carbary added 14 points and five rebounds and joined Hannah Leahy in being honored on senior night.
Jojo Muldoon's 11 points led Bayshore.
The victory comes one day after four Bradenton Christian players were named to the all-Bay Conference team: Carbary, Leahy, Sikkema and Amy Van Ryn. The Bay Conference consists of six private schools around the Tampa Bay area.
BRADEN RIVER 51, MANATEE 43 -- Deja Palmer had 14 points and Larissa LeBolt contributed 10 for the host Pirates (3-21, 0-8 Class 7A, District 11) in a nondistrict game. Freshman Mele Sharma added 8.
Girls weightlifting
Bayshore's Jessica Marcelin earned a berth in next month's state championship meet by winning the unlimited weight class at the Class 1A, Region 7 meet in New Port Richey (River Ridge High School). Other top four finishers were Tyra Shelby (199-pound weight class) and Michaela Rivera (139) in third place and Elisabelle Polynice (183) in fourth place.
The final list of state qualifiers will be released once all of the regionals are done.
The state meet is scheduled for Feb. 5-6 at the Kissimmee Civic Center.
This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "PREP SPORTS ROUNDUP | Bradenton Christian, Lakewood Ranch boys basketball teams post big wins ."