Local roundup: Braden River boys, girls hoops teams defeat county rivals

Amari Jones had 17 points to lead Braden River’s boys basketball team to a 43-26 victory over host Manatee on Tuesday night.

Jones also had four rebounds and three assists for the Pirates. Other top performers for Braden River (4-3 overall, 1-2 district) included Lantz Barton (eight points, three assists) and James Boldin (seven points, 12 rebounds).

Jermaine Graham led Manatee with eight points.

Up next, the Pirates will compete in the Smoothie King Classic next week at Bradenton Christian.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Braden River 57, Lakewood Ranch 45: O’mariah Gordon put up an impressive stat line of 20 points, 12 rebounds and five steals in the host Pirates’ victory against the Mustangs.

Cheyenne Stubbs had 15 points for Braden River, and Julia Rodriguez helped the Pirates put the game away with all 13 of her points in the fourth quarter. Rodriguez also grabbed eight rebounds.

India Searles had a team-high 16 points for Lakewood Ranch.

Manatee 55, Venice 49: The Hurricanes earned the victory thanks in part to Jada Mullinex’s 28 points, including 8-for-11 from behind the 3-point line.

Andrea Soto added seven points for Manatee, which improved to 8-3.

The Hurricanes take on Tampa Berkeley Prep at 6 p.m. Friday in a tournament at Northside Christian in St. Petersburg.

BOYS SOCCER

Lakewood Ranch 3, Braden River 0: The Mustangs stayed perfect, improving to 12-0 behind two goals from Pablo Vargas and one from Alex Thompson.

Wilmer Yanez had an assist and Jash Lavieri made eight saves in posting the shutout.

Lakewood Ranch is back in action at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Venice.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Local roundup: Braden River boys, girls hoops teams defeat county rivals."