Pinellas County Nights: Monday/Tuesday Recap at Keswick Christian and Northeast

Pinellas County is better known for their beaches than their basketball, but I'm hoping to bring a little more attention to that side of things. I watched a few of the better teams in Pinellas County this week with Keswick Christian, Northeast, and St. Pete. Here is a brief recap of each game with some highlighted players included: &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt"><em>Monday Night - Bayshore Christian @ Keswick Christian</em></span> Keswick Christian controlled this game from the first whistle. The Crusaders had too many weapons with 8 of their players scoring as opposed to just 3 for Bayshore Christian in a lopsided 64-26 win. The 5-0 Crusaders are led by captain and senior <strong>Jakara Akins</strong>. She scored 15 on this night with 9 of those points coming from long range. Fellow senior <strong>Yasmin Baroni</strong> is the best player around the rim on this team. She finished strong on both sides on the hoop, is a strong rebounder, and added 8 points in limited action. Another key piece for them is their athletic sophomore in <strong>Sydney Jackwin</strong> who also contributed 8 points with her tight defense and speed to jump the passing lanes. Seniors <strong>Stefanie March</strong> and <strong>Marissa McCauley</strong> combined for 19, and Freshman <strong>Lauren Cook</strong> had a strong performance with 10 points. There is no doubt that they will make another run this season as a reclassified 2A squad who lost a close one in their Regional Final last year. Bayshore Christian lost a lot of talent to graduation after making it to the 2A State Championship last year, and one of their better returning players was out with an injury on Monday. This left the Faith Warriors with only two to three options for scoring the ball. They were led by sophomore <strong>Ari Royal</strong> who had 15 points with a lot of those coming from the free throw line. She started to come on in the second half by using her speed to get to the hoop and score or draw a foul. Their other scoring option was sophomore <strong>Sierra Bell</strong> who had 7 points, and could have done more if she had been a bit more aggressive as I liked her overall game. It's going to be a learning year for this young Bayshore Christian team. &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt"><em>Tuesday Night - St. Pete @ Northeast</em></span> The 5-0 Northeast Vikings came out strong in the first quarter, but squandered their lead as St. Pete went on a 9-0 run to end the first quarter to tie it up at 12 each. This game was all Northeast after this with the exception of St. Pete trying to get over the hump in the fourth quarter. The final score ended up being 54-43 in favor of the Northeast Vikings at home. The Vikings are led by senior <strong>Kanesha Hall</strong> who recently scored her 1,000th point as the first ever to do it in their school's history. Talk about an impressive accomplishment! She has worked hard to become the player she is today, and she led everyone in scoring with 19 points on very efficient shooting. Kanesha distributed the ball well and rebounded well for her team too. Another big player on Tuesday was junior <strong>Carolyn Harris</strong> who had 10 points by using her size and frame to back down defenders for a bucket. <strong>Jada Ballard</strong> is a senior who will help lead this squad, and she had 6 in this big win for Northeast. The Green Devils have a very exciting freshman in <strong>Ava Stoller</strong> who scored 11 on the night even while nursing an injury. She is very active on defense, has smooth handles, and an improving jump shot. Ava has virtually come out of nowhere, but she's beginning to jump on everyone's radar. The key senior on this team that will need to step up for St. Pete to have success in <strong>Denise Hall-Papaleo</strong>. She is a scorer who can do it from all over, and she led the team with 16 on the evening. Denise started to come on late in the game with a couple of three's and she is very capable of taking over a game with her skill set. It was too little too late for the Green Devils though as the extended zone defense was too much pressure for their limited offense. <strong>Bree Wilson</strong> is the best forward on this team who scored 8 points, and will need to be a force for this team in her junior year as an undersized big.