Lady Eagles win second, to host Marathon on Friday

Three Lady Eagles hit double figures as Island Christian School’s girls basketball team outplayed Hialeah Educational Academy, 60-18, Friday in Islamorada.

Alyssa Bell scored a career-high 21 points, and senior guard Jade Basilius netted 18 points.

Forward Joy Russell recorded a double-double, pulling down a dozen rebounds to go with her 11 points.

The win over Hialeah improved ICS to 2-1, heading into a Monday road game at Hebrew Academy of Miami Beach. Results were pending.

At 6:30 p.m. Friday at Island Christian, the Lady Eagles take on Marathon High School (4-2) in a rematch of a 37-35 win by the Lady Dolphins on Nov. 29.

Boys at 3-6

Two of the top performers on Island Christian’s boys basketball team were sidelined in Friday’s 59-34 loss to Hialeah Educational.

Leading scorer David Calderwood and top rebounder Tyler Walker, both seniors, were held out while recovering from injuries.

“It really hurt having those guys out, but it was a good opportunity for other guys to step up,” said head coach Jarrod Mandozzi.

Senior forward Stephen Dostaler scored 17 points for the Eagles, while eighth-grade guard Mario Menendez scored seven points with three steals.

“We made a run to close the gap in the third quarter but just ran out of gas at the end,” said the coach.

On Tuesday, the ICS Eagles were clipped by visiting Grace Academy, 64-50, in a game moved up from January.

A slow start, 20-8 in the first quarter, and a dozen missed free throws put ICS in a hole, Mandozzi said.

“Turnovers and second-chance baskets really hurt us in the first half,” he said.

“Our guys came out refocused in the second half, outscoring them 33- 26,” Mandozzi said. “At one point it looked like we really had the momentum and were going to have a shot to pull it out but we just ran out of time.”

Calderwood returned to the court, hitting for 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds with three steals.

Dostaler led the team with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Menendez, “who is really improving at a rapid pace,” said the coach, recorded seven assists, six rebounds and four steals to go with his three points.

A scheduled Thursday game against Brito Private has been moved to Jan. 23 in Islamorada.

Marathon High School’s junior varsity Dolphins are scheduled to play the ICS team at play at 5 p.m. Friday in Islamorada.

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Lady Eagles win second, to host Marathon on Friday."