St. Brendan softball excels, lacrosse regionals continue and Heritage volleyball makes history
The St. Brendan softball team placed second at the Bill Longshore Tournament in Naples.
The Sabres went 3-1 in the two-day tourney. They beat Naples-Palmetto Ridge, Naples and West Broward to reach the finals. Sickles-Tampa edged St. Brendan 2-1 in the finals.
St. Brendan 8, Naples-Palmetto Ridge 0: Isabella Fernandez 2-2; Alex Perea 3-4; Madisyn Llerandi 1-1; Marley Nielsen 1-2; WP Sophia Moran. StB (12-7).
St. Brendan 7, Naples 2: Alex Perea 1-2; Sasha Blanco 1-3; Brianna Masses-Valero 1-2; Ashle Saud 1-3; WP Emily Barrera. StB (13-7).
Semifinal: St. Brendan 10, West Broward 3: Isabella Fernandez 3-3; Alex Perea 1-2; Madisyn Llerandi 1-3; Ashley Saud 1-2; Sasha Blanco 1-2; WP Emily Barrera. StB (14-7).
Championship: Tampa-Sickles 2, St. Brendan 1: Isabella Fernandez 1-3; Alex Perea 1-3; Madisyn Llerandi 1-2; Kristin Stoia 1-3. StB (14-8).
Lacrosse
After winning a district title, the Columbus boys’ lacrosse team edged Wellington 9-8 in overtime in a Class 2A region quarterfinal.
The Explorers went ahead 5-3 in the first quarter. Each team scored once in the second. Columbus added two goals in the third for an 8-4 advantage. Wellington outscored the Explorers 4-0 in the fourth to force overtime.
Columbus (14-5) travels to Jupiter (12-8) for a region semifinal on Wednesday.
St. Thomas Aquinas won a district title, too, and then beat Palm Beach Gardens-Dwyer 19-2 in a region quarterfinal. The Raiders scored five in the first, five in the second, five in the third and four in the fourth.
Trace McDonald led with five goals and four assists. Michael Milanes had three goals and an assist, and Chase Garey added three goals. Jacob Urbano had a goal and four assists.
St. Thomas Aquinas (13-3) rematches with visiting Western (12-8) in a region semifinal on Wednesday.
Western, after losing to St. Thomas Aquinas in the district final, rebounded with a 20-8 victory over District 14-2A Champ Boca Raton in a region quarterfinal. Trevor Buffone, Aidan Caffrey, Sean Dingle and Matthew Hicks helped lead the offense.
BOYS: District 16-2A Championship: Columbus 15, Palmetto 5.
BOYS: District 15-2A Championship: St. Thomas Aquinas 21, Western 10.
GIRLS: District 16-2A Championship: Cypress Bay 12, Cooper City 5.
GIRLS: District 15-2A Championship: St. Thomas Aquinas 18, Western 6.
GIRLS: District 14-2A Championship: Boca Raton 13, Stoneman Douglas 10.
CLASS 1A
Belen Jesuit, a district champion, defeated Plantation-American Heritage 12-3 in a 1A region quarterfinal.
The Wolverines led 6-0 by halftime and increased its advantage to 10-1 after three quarters. Zachary Acosta, Max Cabanas, Christopher Collings, Juan Miro Quesada, and Israel Salabarria helped ignite the offense.
The Wolverines (12-4) will travel to West Palm Beach-Oxbridge Academy (17-4) for a regional semifinal on Wednesday.
Pine Crest beat district champ Gulliver Prep 11-5 in region quarterfinal action.
The Panthers take a 4-0 first quarter lead. Each team scored twice in the second quarter. Gulliver Prep out scored Pine Crest 2-1 in quarter three to trim the lead to three, 7-4. The Raiders opened the scoring in the fourth, trailing by just two goals. That’s when Pine Crest erupted with the next four goals for the win. Gulliver Prep ended its season at 12-6.
The Panthers (15-4) go on the road to battle Boca Raton-St. Andrew’s (16-3) in a region semifinal on Wednesday. This is a rematch of the district finals that St. Andrew’s won.
The district champion Scots eliminated Westminster Christian 14-0 in another region quarterfinal. The Warriors finished the season 12-6.
BOYS: District 16-1A Championship: Gulliver Prep 7, Ransom Everglades 5.
BOYS: District 15-1A Championship: Belen Jesuit 9, University School 5.
BOYS: District 14-1A Championship: Boca Raton-St. Andrew’s 10, Pine Crest 6.
GIRLS: District 16-1A Championship: Key West 15, Miami Country Day 4.
GIRLS: District 15-1A Championship: Pine Crest 11, Plantation-American Heritage 9.
NOTE: Girls’ lacrosse report on Friday.
Boys’ volleyball
The Plantation-American Heritage boys’ volleyball team won its first playoff game in the program’s history by defeating Calvary Christian in five sets in a district quarterfinal.
The win guaranteed a wining record for the Patriots, another first in the program’s history.
Trailing 5-0 in the fifth and deciding set, American Heritage rallied with a 15-4 run to seal the victory.
Plantation-American Heritage d. Calvary Christian 25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 18-25, 15-9: Daylan Holness 19 service points, 5 aces, 25 assists, 5 kills, 9 digs; Ivan Zhang 9 service points, 14 kills, 14 digs; Matthew Jeong 9 service points, 9 kills, 18 digs. AH (10-8).
Baseball
After losing to national power Stoneman Douglas 14-8, the Western baseball team rebounded with a win over Pine Crest.
Western 11, Pine Crest 4: WP Jason Braverman (1-1), 4 IP, 0 ER, 5 K, 2 H, 0 BB; Kristian Noriega 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2 SB; Luis Lorenzo 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 SB; Enrique Sierra 1-2, R, RBI; Sean Kaelber 1-2, 2 BB; Andrew Holt 1-2, RBI. WST (18-4), PC (5-15).
Belen Jesuit 6, Coral Springs Charter 0: Marco Fuentes CG, 3 H, 11 K; Ernie Echevarria 2-3, 3B, 3 RBI; Brandon DeGoti 2 RBI; Chris Bayo 1-2, 2 R; Matt Humbes 1-2, 2B, R; Raul Aspuru 2 R. BEL (16-7).
Basketball Honors
Riviera Prep senior Esteban Lluberes earned Class 3A All-State Boys’ Basketball first team honors by The Florida Association of Basketball Coaches (FABC) and Source Hoops.
Lluberes averaged 18.3 points, 4.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game while leading the Bulldogs to the 3A state final.
Westminster Academy also had two players represented as freshman Alex Lloyd made second team, while junior Jaylen Carey earned third team honors. Florida Christian senior Nicholas Mate also made third team.
In Class 2A, Weston Sagemont’s Adrian Cruz earned first team honors after leading the Lions to the state final and averaging 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Miami Christian senior Martin Garza earned third team honors.
Spring All-County Nominations
Athletic directors were emailed All-County nomination forms to share with their coaches of spring sports in Broward and Miami Dade counties. Deadline and return email address are on the form. Questions, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
Submit sports results
For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have varsity results, top performers and stats for this column, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the game, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.
---
Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 11:44 PM.
