Marco Academy wins, Lely girls lose in basketball Lely's Rebecca Senatus wins state wrestling title

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde/Staff Lely's Violet Sullivan tightly covers Immokalee's JoJo Pierre as she tries to get off a shot in the Indians win over Lely in the opening round of the Class 5A-District 14 playoffs.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde/Staff A smothering Immokalee defense makes it difficult for Lely's Ariana Garousi to get off a shot. Immokalee pulled away in the final quarter to win in the opening round of the Class 5A-District 12 playoffs.

Photo by Submitted

Tom Poppoli/Submitted photo Lely's Rebecca Senatus proudly shows off her competition poster that details her trip to winning the State Girls Invitational Wrestling championship in the 152-pound class. Senatus, a sophomore, became Lely's first girl to win a state wrestling title.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde/Staff Lely coach Kirsti Jones diagrams a play during a time out in the Trojans loss to Immokalee in the opening round of the Class 4A-District 14 playoffs.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde/Staff Lely's Jenny Pierre forces a bad pass by Immokalee as she leaps to interfere with the flight of the ball. The Lady Trojans ended their season with a 27-17 loss in the Class 5A-District 14 opening round at Golden Gate on Monday.

Marco Academy wins, Lely girls lose in basketball

Lely's Rebecca Senatus wins state wrestling title

Note to designers: Make sure Senatus photo makes page

By SCOTT BUTHERUS and ROGER LALONDE

Lely sophomore Rebecca Senatus accomplished something that has never been done when she won Lely's first state girls wrestling title.

For her success she was named Naples Daily News Girl Prep of the Week.

"To be the first one to do it in our 40-year history, that's pretty cool," Lely coach Mark Modica said.

"It feels good. I'm proud that I got to be the one to achieve that," Senatus said.

Senatus won the 152-pound weight class over Haines City's Lyanette Pillot, the defending state champion, last weekend in Kissimmee.

"I just kept thinking how much I wanted it and wanted it all season," Senatus said. "I kept working hard all season and when I won, I kept thinking, 'I did it, I did it.'"

Modica said, "I'm not the least bit surprised (that she won) with all of the hard work that she put into it."

Senatus had never competed in organized wrestling before this season, which coupled with factors like a lack of consistent competition locally, makes the state title even more impressive. Even though she had only seven matches this season — mostly against male opponents, Senatus pointed out that her teammates, particularly fellow female grappler Shantoy Williams, were instrumental in helping her reach the championship.

"It was a challenge sometimes to compete in other weight classes, but wrestling the guys gave me a real advantage. They'd push me hard, but it helped when I got to wrestle other girls," Senatus said.

"She just never stops. She works hard in practice. Academically, she excels," Modica added. "She is everything that exemplifies Lely wrestling."

Lely girls lose to Immokalee in playoffs

In a game of air balls, turnovers and poor shooting, Immokalee pulled away in the final period to defeat Lely, 27-17 in the opening round of the Class 4A-District 14 tournament on Monday.

In an uneventful first quarter, Immokalee scored just four points, but led 4-2.

The second quarter was a bit more productive, with Lely's Casey Mendel, making her only shot of the game, a three-pointer, to bring Lely back to a two-point deficit, 11-9 at halftime.

JoJo Pierre, five points and Destiny Christopher, four points, led Immokalee.

Lely's Jenny Pierre made a steal and scored, then scored again on a breakaway to give Lely its only lead at 13-11 in the third period. Christopher and Pierre kicked up their scoring, taking a 19-17 lead going into the final quarter.

Turnovers and poor shooting led to a goose egg for Lely in the fourth, with Christopher and Pierre again dominating for Immokalee to run away to a 27-17 win.

Marco Academy edges Moorehaven

With the game tied at 45 after three quarters, the Manta Rays had their best quarter in the fourth, scoring 22 points, taking a 67-61 win to even their season mark at 11-11.

Jared Jackson, the top scorer in the county, couldn't be contained, scoring 30 points. Freshman Cole Stretton chipped in with 19, including to two 3-pointers. Yali Luna also added two 3-pointers.

"Our shooting was much better tonight from the arc and at times we played well offensively," coach Roger Raymond said. "We have to play better on the defensive glass as we gave up too many second shot baskets. It was a nice win for our team."