Eight girls basketball district champs crowned in Southwest Florida

Barron Collier, Bishop Verot, Charlotte, ECS, South Fort Myers among title winners

It's playoff time in girls basketball. Southwest Florida hosted eight district tournaments this past week. Here is a roundup of the eight teams in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties that earned championships and automatic berths into the FHSAA state tournament.

Class 6A-District 12

South Fort Myers 64, Riverdale 28: Despite changing coaches in the offseason, the Wolfpack (18-7) won their second straight district title with a dominant performance.

Jayda Green and Haley Lang, both seniors, led South Fort Myers with 19 points each. The game went to a running clock in the third quarter. After an 0-3 start to the season the Wolfpack have won 18 of their past 22 games.

Senior Mya Burroughs led Riverdale (9-9) with seven points.

Class 6A-District 11

Charlotte 56, Fort Myers 34: Charlotte (18-6) won perhaps the toughest district in the area by knocking off one of the hottest teams. Fort Myers (18-6) had won 10 of its past 11 games before Friday.

The Tarpons raced ahead early, jumping out to a 27-12 lead at the half. The lead grew to 20 in the third quarter, and Charlotte coasted from there. The Tarpons won their third straight district title, and now they're going for a third straight regional championship.

D'Yanis Jimenez scored 16 points to lead Charlotte, while Jamie Ellis added 15. Fort Myers was led by Jadah Toombs who had 17 points.

Class 5A-District 12

Barron Collier 36, Naples 31: The Cougars survived a defensive battle to get revenge on the team that ended their district title streak last year. In 2022, Naples (12-13) beat Barron Collier to end the Cougars' run of 12 straight championships.

Barron Collier (17-11) led most the game, but never by more than six points. The teams scored just five points each in the fourth quarter, and only one point total in the final three minutes.

Juanita Rendon scored 12 for the Cougars, while Sheila Forbes and Peyton Heffelfinger each scored eight points.

Class 5A-District 11

Port Charlotte 56, Mariner 23: Port Charlotte held a modest seven-point lead at halftime, then blew Mariner away in the second half.

The Pirates (16-11) outscored Mariner 36-10 in the third and fourth quarters to cruise to the title. That includes a 21-4 advantage in the final period.

It is the third consecutive district championship and regional appearance for Port Charlotte. Mariner's season ends at 6-11.

Class 4A-District 12

Lemon Bay 68, Gateway 35: Two long winning streaks went head-to-head in the 4A-12 finals, and one of them had to end. Lemon Bay (19-7) won its 11th straight game while ending Gateway's string of 10 wins in a row.

The Manta Rays made sure this wasn't ever close. They were up 13-1 at the end of the first quarter and led by 18 after two periods. The lead grew to 30 points in the third quarter.

Lemon Bay junior forward Taylor Orris had 31 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Maya Collins had 23 points and seven assists.

Class 3A-District 12

Bishop Verot 48, First Baptist 24: The Vikings continued their turnaround season by claiming their first district title in four years. After going 5-17 last year and having three consecutive losing seasons, Bishop Verot is 16-9 and headed to regionals.

Sophomore guard Cameron O'Halloran scored 18 points to lead the Vikings, who have a first-year coach in Allisa Schenk. Josee Fry, another sophomore, added 14 for Bishop Verot.

Zara Stewart had 13 points, four rebounds and three steals to lead First Baptist (13-12).

Class 2A-District 12

St. John Neumann 41, Seacrest 34: Three players scored in double digits to lead the Celtics, who made it all the way to the state semifinals last season.

Senior Elise Flannery had 12 points and 12 rebounds, plus three steals and two blocks. Fellow senior Lily Wahlfield had 11 points, while junior Sydney Martin contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

Neumann improved to 18-7, while Seacrest hopes to earn an at-large bid to regionals with a 12-10 record.

Class 2A-District 11

Evangelical Christian 81, Sarasota Christian 34: ECS won its third straight district title under coach Dwayne Donnell, who joined the Sentinels after winning two state titles at Dunbar.

ECS (21-4) led by 41 points at halftime, and the second half was played under a running clock. Maddie O'Berski scored a game-high 21 points for the Sentinels. ECS also got 18 points from Zaira Mitchell and 14 from Jameria Church.