Six Southwest Florida boys basketball teams advance in FHSAA playoffs

The FHSAA boys basketball state tournament began Thursday, and 15 teams from Southwest Florida played in the regional quarterfinals.

Six of those teams from Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties earned victories to keep their seasons alive. Keep reading to find out who advanced to the regional semifinals.The seed of each team in its region is in parentheses:

Class 6A-Region 3

(3) Palmetto Ridge 56, (6) Countryside 55: Senior Iago Stanback was clutch for the third-seeded and host Bears. Stanback was fouled with six seconds left and swished both free throws to send Palmetto Ridge to the second round.

Stanback finished with 23 points and went 12-of-15 from the line. Junior Calvin Charles had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Bears.

(4) Charlotte 64, (5) Largo 56: Kirby Schmitz scored a season-high 19 points to lead the Tarpons to a win at home. Charlotte gets to host again in the second round thanks to No. 8 seed Palmetto's upset win over No. 1 Leto. Palmetto will be at Charlotte on Tuesday.

(2) Wharton 60, (7) Immokalee 50: Playing at home, Wharton raced out to a 28-13 lead after the first quarter. The game slowed down the rest of the way, but the Wildcats had enough to win. Immokalee started the fourth quarter trailing by 16 points.

Class 5A-Region 3

(1) Barron Collier 80, (8) Lely 57: For the second time in seven days, the Cougars raced past crosstown rival Lely. Barron Collier also beat the Trojans in last week's district championship game.

The Cougars got double-doubles from seniors Noah French (28 points, 10 rebounds) and Brayden Touchette (16 points, 13 rebounds). Spencer Clayton added 13 points, nine assists and just one turnover.

For Lely, freshman Sam Powell scored 17 points while senior Dave Louidor added 15.

(5) Mariner 52, (4) Seminole 50: Mariner went on the road, nearly a two-hour trip, and hammered out a playoff win. The Tritons were down one point after the first quarter but led by five points entering the fourth quarter.

Now Mariner must go to Barron Collier, where the Tritons lost 84-42 in November, for the regional semifinals on Tuesday.

(2) St. Petersburg 80, (7) Naples 73: The Golden Eagles showed fight and nearly pulled off an upset on the road. Down eight at halftime, Naples trailed 52-51 entering the fourth quarter before giving up 28 points in the final period.

Charlie Ricketts drained eight 3-pointers for Naples, which made 12 from deep as a team. Ricketts finished with 29 points. Marques scored 15 and Jaden Wolner had 14 for the Eagles.

(3) Southeast 61, (6) Port Charlotte 59: The Pirates seemed to be in cruise control on the road until Southeast's big comeback. Port Charlotte was up 20-8 after the first quarter and led 39-31 to start the fourth. Southeast then dropped 30 points in the final period to steal the win.

Class 4A-Region 3

(4) Lakewood 77, (5) Estero 51: The Wildcats lost big on the road. Estero, a district runner-up, finished its season with a 13-11 record.

(2) Gateway 65, (7) Lemon Bay 52: Gateway won its first regional game in the program's second season, and it wasn't as close as the final score indicates. The Eagles led the entire game and were up 28 points with four minutes left.

Class 3A-Region 3(4) Gateway Charter 76, (5) First Baptist Academy 67 (OT): Gateway Charter senior Jahmari Johnson drilled a game-tying 3-pointer to send the game to overtime after the Griffins trailed by 17 in the second half.

Johnson finished with 38 points, including 27 in the fourth quarter and overtime. It was the program's first regional victory and its first-ever appearance in the state tournament.Senior Latrell Davis led First Baptist with 21 points.

Class 2A-Region 3

(2) Canterbury 73, (7) Seacrest 61: Host Canterbury, in St. Petersburg, pulled away in the third quarter following a competitive first half. Seacrest trailed 34-28 at halftime before Canterbury outscored the Stingrays 22-11 in the third period.

Seacrest got 24 points from senior Nick Cassano, who led the Stingrays to a district title by scoring 42 points in the finals. 

(5) Lakeside Christian 60, (4) St. John Neumann 55: The Celtics, who were district runners-up but got to host in the first round, lost this back-and-forth battle. Neumann trailed by three at the end of the first quarter but was up 28-27 at the half. Lakeside Christian led the entire fourth quarter.

Senior Eric Morgan led the Celtics with 19 points in his final game for Neumann.

Regional Semifinals

Tuesday

Class 3A-Region 3 (4) Gateway Charter at (1) Tampa Catholic

Class 4A-Region 3 (3) Brooksville Central at (2) Gateway

Class 5A-Region 3 (5) Mariner at (1) Barron Collier

Class 6A-Region 3 (8) Palmetto at (4) Charlotte(3) Palmetto Ridge at (2) Wharton