Braden River football remains second in state

Braden River remained No. 2 in the latest Associated Press Class 7A state football rankings. On the strength of a 31-7 victory over archrival Lakewood Ranch, the Pirates kept their No. 2 spot in the 7A rankings released Tuesday. Braden River tallied 151 points and sits behind state power Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, who secured 17 of 18 first-place votes for 176 points. Third-place Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer snagged one first-place vote to edge to within two points of Braden River’s second-place ranking. No other Manatee County programs cracked the top 10 for their respective classifications.

Bradenton Christian 3, Community Christian 0: The Panthers improved to 6-4 by smacking 22 aces as a team in a 25-4, 25-5, 25-4 sweep on Tuesday. Standouts were Madison Allen (seven kills and seven digs), Annalyse Wiers (seven kills), Emily Eurice (11 assists) and Ashley Waldo (10 digs).

Clearwater Countryside 3, Bayshore 1: The visiting Bruins dropped a 25-16, 25-27, 25-14, 25-18 decision to Countryside on Tuesday. Bayshore was paced by Jasmine Youngthunder (eight kills, five assists, two blocks, six digs), Audrey Strom (five kills, three aces, six assists), Alexus Norman (four kills, five blocks) and Kyia Parsley (five kills, one block). The Bruins (3-5) resume district play Thursday when they host St. Petersburg Gibbs.

Braden River 3, Palmetto 0: Haley Miller (six kills, five aces) and Olivia Perez (22 assists, eight aces) paced the Pirates’ sweep, 25-10, 25-18, 25-20, over the Tigers. Junior varsity: Braden River’s Hannah Reynolds was credited with a strong defensive performance in a 2-1 loss to Palmetto. Freshman: The Pirates won 2-0 (25-8, 25-14) to improve to 5-4, with Baileigh Bockover had 21 service points.

Sarasota Christian 3, Saint Stephen’s 1: The Blazers defeated the host Falcons 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-12.

Sophie Bilik had six kills, nine digs and 18 assists for Saint Stephen’s (5-8), while Ashleigh Rodhouse had a team-high 10 kills and 17 digs.

Palmetto 194, Bayshore 212: Jonathan Hamm’s 39 helped the host Tigers (5-1) defeat the Bruins (1-3) at Buffalo Creek.

Hamm was followed by Palmetto teammates Tyler McLeod (40), Ryan Andress (54) and Howie Sanders (61).

Bayshore’s qualifying scores came from Robert Jimenez (45), Logan Hone (51), Vassar Vasiades (53) and Josh Kapellen (63).

Braden River 155, Manatee 185, Bradenton Christian 198: Braden River’s Chandler Hammett paced the Pirates’ victory in a tri-match Tuesday with a 37 at IMG Academy Golf Club. Braden River improved to 5-1. Manatee’s Michael Wood and Bradenton Christian’s Jack Knowles had 42s. The Hurricanes fell to 3-5, while BCS fell to 1-6.

Saint Stephen’s 148, Lakewood Ranch 161: The Falcons stayed unbeaten at 4-0 behind Massimo Mbetse’s 34 at Bradenton Country Club on Tuesday. The victory also sent Lakewood Ranch to its first non-tournament loss. The Mustangs are 13-8 overall and received a 34 from Drew Angelo.

Out-of-Door Academy 153, Cardinal Mooney 156: The Thunder received three sub-40 rounds to nip the Cougars at Lakewood Ranch Country Club on Tuesday. Max Coutsolioutsos (36), Jim Cai (37) and Wyatt Plattner (39) led the way. The Cougars had four sub-40 rounds with Kyle Jarrett, Dalton Plattner, Noah Kumar and Jake Nash recording 39s.

Sarasota Booker 202, Southeast 261: The Seminoles fell to 0-6 in Tuesday’s match at The River Club. Booker’s Carlos Arteta led all golfers with a 48. Southeast, which faces Bayshore at Manatee County Golf Course on Wednesday, was paced by Avi Patel’s 52.

Saint Stephen’s 158, Palmetto 196: Ashlyn Gardner of the Tigers (3-4) had the match’s lowest score with a 35, but the Falcons (5-1) prevailed at Terra Ceia. Saint Stephen’s was led by Maria Huang (36), Kendall Miller (37), Catherine Huang 38 and Baera Bischoff (47).

This story was originally published September 20, 2016 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Braden River football remains second in state."