Boys Basketball: SWFL Power Rankings Week of Jan. 14

By Tariq Lee | tlee@news-press.com

There’s a lot of basketball to recap but no major changes in power rankings from last week. Several Southwest Florida teams played three games this week. Players dealt with some fatigue this week and it was seen through play a couple times last week. Also I will be out of town this weekend but will do my best to update blog next Monday during my time back home in DC. A few teams finished the week unscathed but most took a loss last week. This is an off week for the FABC/Source Hoops rankings so they won’t be included this week only MaxPreps. But expect to see them in next week’s blog. Please send any questions or comments regarding rankings to tlee@news-press.com.

1. Fort Myers 13-3, 2-0, last week: 1 (Moved up one spot to No. 5 in 6A, MaxPreps)

Last week: 2-1. The Green Wave opened the week with a blowout win over South Fort Myers on the road 89-53 Tuesday. Mark Matthews (20 points) and James Brunson (19 points)  led Fort Myers in scoring in the win. Its next game would be a match-up with Class 7A Charlotte, Fort Myers led by nine with 3:30 remaining but couldn’t hold on falling 61-60 Friday.  Just 24 hours after that nail biter they faced St. Petersburg Gibbs in the Southwest Florida vs. Florida Challenge finale, ranked No. 8 by MaxPreps heading into the match-up. Matthews led the team in scoring with 20 points and hit the game winning three-pointer with 25 seconds left in the 50-48 win.

This week: Fort Myers faces 1-16 Ida Baker Tuesday in a District 6A-13 game at home. Don’t expect the Green Wave to have any trouble in that one. They then travel to Cape Coral to face Island Coast (11-8, 2-0) where they again are the favorite. The Green Wave wraps up the week in the Wally Keller Classic at Charlotte High School. They will play a Lake Wales (9-5, 2-0) team that is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and No. 11 in the state of Florida by MaxPreps. Lake Wales was No. 2 in FABC/Source Hoops for the week of Jan. 7. If Fort Myers wins that one it would be a huge momentum boost with three weeks of the regular season left.

2. Bishop Verot 10-7, 5-0, last week: 2 (Dropped two spots to No. 11 in 4A, MaxPreps)

Last week: 2-1. Verot got in from New Orleans Monday and had a road game at Clewiston Tuesday, a 71-51 win. Mason Taylor scored 28 points and knocked down all four of his three points attempts, Mitchell Fundingsland poured in 16 of his own. The Vikings had a rivalry game at home against Dunbar Friday night and came away with a win in the tightly-contested match-up 49-43. Taylor scored 31 on the evening and shot just over 50 percent (14-for-27) from the floor. Verot leads the series with Dunbar 22-4 since 2004. In Verot’s final game Saturday at the SWFL vs. FL Challenge against Stuart Martin County, ranked No. 4 in MaxPreps entering the game, the Vikings fatigue began to show. Verot lost by 22 points as Martin County opened the game with six first quarter three pointers.

This week: After playing nine games in six days the Vikings get a much needed three days off. And the good news for them is forward/center Ricky Doyle has been cleared and will be shooting on side baskets this week. If there is no inflammation in foot or pain he will begin to jog next week. I will keep an eye on his status. Labelle (8-8, 3-2) will travel to Verot Wednesday night followed by the Vikings traveling to Gateway Charter (8-6, 2-4) for its second and final game of the week.

3. First Baptist Academy 15-2, 2-0, last week: 3 (Idle at No. 6 in 2A, MaxPreps)

Last week: 2-0. First Baptist made the trip to Dayton, Ohio for the weekend to play in the Miami Valley School College Prep Classic. They defeated tournament host Miami Valley 64-58 as sophomores Quandell Newton and Lorenzo Jenkins poured in 12 points apiece. Then the Lions defeated Seton Catholic out of Richmond, Indiana 57-20 on Saturday as four players registered double-digit points. Both teams are ranked in the 200-300 range in their respective states by MaxPreps.

This week: First Baptist has two road games this week but this time they both are in Florida. They play Southwest Florida Christian (4-7, 1-1) Tuesday and Community Christian (0-4, 0-2) Thursday. Neither of these games should be close for the Lions.

4. Community School of Naples 17-3, last week: 5 (Idle at No. 14 in 3A, MaxPreps)

Last week: 2-0. Community School of Naples got a slight test against Neumann Friday but handled business as expected. They routed Canterbury 72-30 Wednesday on the road and won by 12 points against Neumann at home. Jeff Merton scored a team-high 20 points and pulled in 11 rebounds in the 65-53 win.

This week: CSN will travel to Oasis (5-14, 1-10) Tuesday then have three rest days before a matchup with Sarasota Riverview (4-4, 2-0) Saturday at the Wally Keller Classic at Charlotte High School. Sarasota Riverview has a solid team that put on a good performance in a 57-45 loss to Plantation American Heritage in the Sunshine Series of the City of Palms Classic.

5. Lehigh 14-4, 4-1, last week: NR (Dropped two spots to 21 in 5A, MaxPreps)

Last week: 1-1. The Lightning lost their first District 5A-14 game of the season Tuesday at Golden Gate 84-52. The team was outscored 20-3 in the second quarter after trailing by just one, 19-18, after the first. Thursday night they were back at home against Cape Coral and fell behind by double digits in the first half. Lehigh closed well to defeat the Seahawks 58-51, junior Bernard Edwards, Jr. scored a team-high 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field to go along with five assists and five steals.

This week: Lehigh has the luxury of playing two home games this week, Tuesday its Riverdale and Friday its Mariner. They are the heavy favorites in both but as we saw from the Golden Gate loss this team is still working out the kinks. Lightning is tied for first in District 5A-14 with Golden Gate at 4-1.

Others to Watch

East Lee 12-6, 3-2, Last week: 4 (Dropped two spots to No. 23 in 4A, MaxPreps) East Lee lost a game on the road to Lely that doesn’t look good on the resume and hurts them in a tight playoff race. The Jaguars already had one loss in District 5A-14 and now sit 3-2 in the district after a 71-59 loss to Lely. They are now tied for third in the district. They bounced back defeating North Port in the noon game Saturday at the SWFL vs. FL Challenge. North Fort Myers (2-9, 1-2) travels to East Lee Friday and the Jaguars will face St. Petersburg Gibbs (14-3, 2-2) Saturday in the Wally Keller Classic at Charlotte.

Dunbar 11-7, 3-2 (Moved up two spots to No. 24 in 4A, MaxPreps) Dunbar opened last week with a big win 82-50 over Gateway Charter Thursday, their second highest scoring total on the season. The team looked to be finally clicking with a majority of the players adjusting from football season. They played Bishop Verot close but Mason Taylor proved to be too much in a 49-43 loss. The Tigers travel to Labelle (8-8, 3-2) Monday with the two clubs tied for second in District 4A-11 at 3-2, huge district game. Their second and final game this week is Tuesday at 2-9 North Fort Myers.

Immokalee 12-6, 1-4 (Moved up nine spots to No. 31 in 5A, MaxPreps) Now this is a team that has made a complete 180 with the addition of University of Cincinatti football commit T’Shumbi Johnson and USF football commit Xavier Richardson. Immokalee is 7-2 with the addition of its football athletes. The squad went 3-0 last week winning three games in four days over Estero, Naples and Clewiston at home. Unfortunately Immokalee has no shot of making the playoffs but can play spoiler to Golden Gate on Jan. 22, their final district game. Golden Gate is currently tied for first in District 5A-14 with Lehigh at 4-1. They will be home Monday against Lely (9-8, 3-2), and then hit the road for a Wednesday match-up with Gulf Coast (11-4, 2-2).

– Tariq Lee