We headed down to Northside Christian School in the Bay Area to take in the second day of The Sun Bash. Now in its seventh year, the Sun Bash in unique in that the sixteen teams participate in three days of showcase games, not a traditional winner-take-all tournament. It gives the organizers control over match-ups and based on the results they did a very good job of pitting the right teams against each other.
Game One: Green Level (NC) vs. Tarpon Springs East Lake
Green Level is out of the Raliegh area of the Tar Heel state. It was a bit slow going for both teams early on as the score was just 6-5 in favor of East Lake midway thru the first quarter. Shortly thereafter, East Lake found itself in the bonus, its defense stiffened and the team hit some threes. This combination gave East Lake a 17-9 lead after one period of play. East Lake continued its stellar play in the second quarter. They continued to find success from behind the arc and slowly built its lead to fifteen, 33-18, at the half.
A 9-2 run by Green Level over the first four minutes of the third quarter got the margin below double-digits. Clearly, the half-time adjustments were working. In all, East Lake was held to just five points in the third and Green Level was back in the game, down just three at 38-35. Things continued to get interesting in the final quarter. Green Level took a 41-40 lead with five minutes to play but East Lake grabbed the lead right back on its next possession by hitting a three. The game and lead continued to go back and forth. With eight seconds left, East Lake hit two free throws to go up three, 50-47. After a timeout, Green Level got the shot it was looking for. The three went down and the game headed into overtime tied at 50-50.
East Lake hit two free throws to lead 56-55 with fifty seconds left. Green Level grabbed the lead back with two free throws of their own with twenty-six seconds remaining. It certainly looked like whichever team had the ball last would win. That didn’t happen as East Lake turned the ball over with eight seconds left. After a quick foul, Green Level made one of two free throws with six seconds left. East Lake was unable to convert on their end and Green Level wins a tight one 58-56.
Green Level was led by Isaac Ericksen with 27 points along with 10 rebounds. Izzy Eatman added 12 points.
East Lake was paced by 21 points from Jeremiah Cooper and also got 14 points from Brody Church.
Game Two: Fort Myers Gateway Charter vs. Coral Springs Coral Glades
Coral Glades held a slim 5-4 lead after the first four minutes but after that both teams hit their respective strides. After the first eight minutes, it was Gateway Charter that had the lead, 17-13. Coral Glades stayed close in the second quarter, trailing just 28-21 with four minutes left in the half. Gateway Charter then reeled off seven unanswered points in less than a minute, forcing a Coral Glades timeout with 3:11 left in the half to lead 35-21. Coral Glades righted the ship and played evenly with Gateway Charter the rest of the period but at the break, Gateway Charter held a 43-29 lead.
Coral Glades worked hard in the third quarter and the result was a slow but successful reduction of the Gateway Charter lead. Entering the final period of play, Coral Glades was down just eight at 54-46. However, a 9-4 run by Gateway Charter over the first four minutes of the fourth pretty much iced the game. Coral Glades did not have enough time or firepower and Gateway Charter won by the score of 72-59.
Gateway Charter was led by Patrick Johnson with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Myles Jones tossed in 11 points and Noah Cutler finished with 10 points.
For Coral Glades, Tahir Bond led the way with 22 points. David Daring added 16 points and Dylan Burroughs contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Game Three: St. Petersburg HS vs. Clearwater Calvary Christian
It looked like Calvary might run away early with this one as they went up 11-5 in the first four minutes. That wasn’t the case and with just over one minute left in the period, St. Pete was up by one, 14-13. Calvary hit a three on their next possession but St. Pete responded with a bucket to tie the game at 16-16 going into the second quarter. The Green Devils of St. Pete grabbed the lead early in the second period and didn’t let go. At the break, they led by the score of 31-26.
St. Pete maintained control of the contest and midway thru the third quarter was up seven at 39-32. That is when Calvary heated up from behind the three-point line. In the span of two minutes, Calvary was within two at 43-41. Calvary regained the lead with ten seconds left in the period and with one more quarter remaining, they were on top by one, 49-48. In the fourth, the St. Pete defense got stops or forced turnovers and scored. Calvary was only able to score four points in the final period and St. Pete ended up winning by double-digits, 64-53.
The Green Devils got 19 points and 7 steals from Emir Gainer. Keyon Clarkson contributed 16 points.
For Calvary, Ethan Sabac scored 25 points, going 5-8 from deep in the process. Ace Taylor tossed in 20 points.
Game Four: North Tampa Christian vs. Lake Worth HS
The Trojans of Lake Worth opened the game up with a bang as 6’5 senior Hendrens Bartelus violently thru down a lob. After that, North Tampa Christian controlled the contest. After one quarter of play, NTC was up 16-9. By the midway point of the second quarter, NTC had doubled-up the Trojans, leading 22-11, forcing a Lake Worth timeout. It didn’t work as hoped and NTC went into the halftime break up a dozen, 29-17.
The Trojans made their move in the third quarter. By the four-minute mark, they had cut the deficit to nine, 33-24. They then reeled off five unanswered points in two minutes to get to within 33-29. NTC scored the final bucket of the period and with one quarter left led 35-29. NTC was able to control the final period as Lake Worth couldn’t hit shots over the NTC zone and 6’9 sophomore Toni Bryant pretty much shut down the lane for close-in shot attempts. Lake Worth also couldn’t come up with stops on the defensive end to get out in transition and score easy basket. NTC would go on to win by the final score of 46-40.
Brodey Cuffle led NTC with 14 points while Landyn Coyler added 11 points. Bryant was credited with only seven points but had six blocks and many more shot changes and challenges.
For Lake Worth, Jeremy Innocent led them in scoring with 12 points while Bartelus finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Game Five: St. Pete Northside Christian vs. Clearwater Countryside
Host school Northside Christian fell behind early in the first period and the score favored Countryside 22-13. Northside righted the ship in the second quarter and midway thru the period was down just one at 23-22. They grabbed the lead momentarily a bit later at 25-23, but Countryside finished out the period with a 7-0 run to led 30-25 at the half.
Countryside essentially blew the game open in the third quarter. That five-point lead at the beginning of the third quarter escalated to 49-30 heading into the final period. Countryside’s ability to knock down shots from distance proved to be the difference. Countryside went on to win fairly easily, 64-46.
Corey Perlin led Countryside with 21 points. Carter Pecags added 13 points and Bryce Meier finished with 11 points.
For Northside Christian, Eli Ahlers led the way with 16 points while Matt Dicristo finished with 12 points.
Game Six: Shabach Christian (MD) vs. Windermere HS
Windermere opened up a 7-1 lead in the first two minutes, forcing a Shabach timeout. Shabach played evenly with the Wolverines from that point on in the period, but still found themselves down seven, 20-13 after the first quarter. Windermere kept that kind of margin for the first four minutes of the second period. Chalier Torres then dropped in back-to-back threes to give Windermere a double-digit lead, 30-20. Shaback responded by scoring the final six points of the half to draw to within four, 30-26, at the break.
Windermere opened a 44-34 lead in the first half of the third period. Shabach was only able to whittle that deficit down to seven, 48-41, heading into the fourth. Windermere controlled that final period, winning comfortably by the score of 75-61.
The Wolverines got 21 points each from Torres and Nathan Earl. T.J. Drain added 18 points.
For Shabach, Rony Hogarth had a team-high 13 points while both Neiko Munday and Chris Henderson each tallied 11 points.
Game Seven: St. Petersburg Gibbs vs. St. Xavier (KY)
The first quarter of the contest was a back-and-forth affair. Gibbs led 9-7 at the midway point but Xavier grabbed a 12-11 lead with 2:30 to go. Gibbs responded with a three but after the first four minutes Gibbs was up just two points, 16-14. Gibbs extended its lead to 28-21 with 4:07 left in the second quarter, forcing a Xavier timeout. Gibbs continued to have a stranglehold on the lead the rest of the period and led 39-31 at the break.
St. Xavier was never able to make any type off serious run at Gibbs in the second half. The closest Xavier got was within eight, 65-57, with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. That threat didn’t last long and Gibbs would go on to win by twelve, 79-67.
Gibbs was led by Jacob Daniels with 28 points. O’Neal Delancy contributed 18 points and Bobby Crawford added 16 points.
St. Xavier’s Jeremiah Jackson led the way with 18 points while Graham Krezmien finished with 17 points and Chance Dillingham contributed 14 points.
Game Eight: Jacksonville Providence vs. Tampa Blake
Blake was up 8-4 midway thru the first quarter but Providence responded to lead by three after the first eight minutes, 17-14. That lead held up in the second quarter until Blake got on a run, taking the lead at 28-27 with 1:30 left in the half. Providence got a bucket just before the halftime horn sounded to take a 29-28 lead.
Midway thru the third quarter, the score was tied at 32-32. At that point, Blake reeled off an 11-0 run that started with a three-point play and later an intentional foul on Providence. With one quarter left, Blake seemed in control, up 43-32. It didn’t stay that way, as Providence went on an 8-0 run to draw within 43-40 with 4:30 left to play. Providence hit one of two free throws to draw within two. Blake then converted a three-point play and looked to have seized control but Providence answered with a three-pointer. Blake went up four with thirty-three seconds left after two free throws. Providence missed a shot for the lead and had to foul. Blake hit their two foul shots for the final points of the game to win by the score of 50-44.
Joshua Lewis led Blake with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Joe Philon contributed 13 points.
For Providence, Brady Patterson had a team high 13 points and Chris Arias added 12 points.