Venice gets revenge on Bayshore

VENICE - The Venice High girls basketball team likes to play full-court, man-to-man defense.

When the Indians played Bayshore five days ago, the Bruins easily beat the press.

Venice coach Bruce Reichenbach altered his style for the rematch.

As unconventional as it was, the plan worked.

The Indians sat in a zone for most of the game and used a late spurt in the fourth quarter to grab a 37-33 Class 5A-District 12 victory Thursday night at Venice High.

"Sometimes you've got to do what you think will win the game," Reichenbach said.

In the Sarasota County Youth Foundation Holiday Classic, the Bruins squeezed out a 42-40 victory.

We're better when we're pressing and getting turnovers," Reichenbach said. "But they dribbled right to the basket against us."

While the Bruins (3-4; 1-2 in 5A-12) were prepared not to face the pressure, they weren't ready for the zone.

"That threw us off," Bayshore coach Jamaal Sanders said. "That was a great game plan, because we can't shoot from the outside."

The Bruins were 0-for-13 in a scoreless second quarter.

Despite holding Bayshore without a point for 8 minutes, 47 seconds, Venice increased its lead by only five.

Three-pointers by Dee Miller and Elissa Alvarez and a layup by Whitney Bauer gave the Bruins a 26-24 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Still up by two, Venice (4-2, 3-0 in 5A-12) went on a 10-0 run, behind three-point plays from Juliana Cavallaro and Kirsten Walchle and a 3-point field goal from Lynsey Butler, a transfer from Indiana.

"That was the turning point of the game," Reichenbach said of Butler's trey.

The Indians could have put the game out of reach earlier but missed 17 of 22 free throws.

"It's not like we don't practice them," Reichenbach said.

Cavallaro led with 19 points. Emily Vasilevskaya (9), Laura Hackett (8), Hannah revels (6) and Kristin Jutras (6) helped keep the rebounding war close.

Miller scored 12 before fouling out.

Liz Garcia pulled down a game-high 10 boards, as the Bruins held a slim 43-42 edge.