2021 SUN Preps All-Area Athletes & Teams
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www.yoursun.com Page 31 Brandon Hill (Community Christian senior) The departure of Ethan Bray left a leadership and production void for the Mustangs. Coach Kurt Taylor asked Hill to fill that void and he didn't disap- point, scoring 21 points and grabbing 8 rebounds per game as Community Christian went 10-9 and continued to close the competition gap with area public schools. Hill was invited to the Southwest Florida Association of Basketball Coaches All-Star game on March 29. Kiemar Richardson (DeSoto County senior) The 6-4 Richardson was a do-it-all dynamo for the Bulldogs this season, sometimes bringing the ball up court as a point-forward and dominating in the low-post on the same possession. When all is right in Richardson's world, no defender can stop him at one end and no shot cannot be blocked at the other. In those times, the Bulldogs knew to keep feeding him the ball. On one remarkable night in Frostproof, Richardson scored 31 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. For the season, he averaged a double-double — 14.9 points, 10.7 rebounds. Devin Riley (North Port senior) Riley had just turned the corner and put together a string of utterly dominant performances when disaster struck and he broke a bone in his foot. The New Year's week injury cost him the rest of the season and played a large part in North Port's fall from a 6-4 team with Riley to an 8-15 team at season's end. Before the injury, the argument could be made he was in the running for a spot among the Player of the Year finalists. He ended up averaging 17.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals. Second Team Justin Barolette (North Port senior) As vital as Devin Riley was to North Port's offensive production, Barolette was a next-level defender who was the fulcrum on the Bobcats' defense, taking on an opponent's best player, often pick- ing up that foe full court. Barolette (2.3 steals) missed six games with injuries. North Port lost all of those games. Tristan Burroughs (Venice senior) Burroughs (12.4 points, 7.5 rounds) held down the fort at Venice while the team waiting on Myles Weston and Jayshon Platt to return from football. In one of those early games, he poured in 30 points as he bridged the gap between Malachi Wideman's departure and the arrival of Weston/Platt. Nazir Gilchrist (DeSoto County junior) A deadly outside threat, Gilchrist's junior season was a learning experience on and off the court. The end result was a much more consistent player and budding star for the 2021-22 season. He averaged 14.4 points and reached double digits in 14 of 18 games. Zach Leslie (Imagine senior) For their entire existence, the Sharks had never won more than five games in a season. That changed on Jan. 4 with a 63-54 overtime victory against Gulf Coast HEAT. Imagine went on to finish 9-11 and Leslie was at the heart of it all, averaging close to 20 points per game. John Gamble (Charlotte sophomore) The only sophomore on this year's all-area team, Gamble asserted himself as the heir apparent to Tre Carroll with his thunderous dunks, deft passing and underrated defense. The only thing missing was consistency, but he flashed growth over Charlotte's final five games, averaging 13.8 points and 4.2 rebounds, well above his season averages. Jayshon Platt (Venice junior) The third piece of Venice's version of a triple-option attack, Platt possibly was the area's most mistake-free player. His superior decision-making and ball security resulted in averaging less than one turnover per game while scoring 13.1 points and shooting 59 percent from the field. Logan Rogers (Port Charlotte senior) It is difficult to point out another player who so steadily became more and more dominant with each passing game. By season's end, Rogers was virtually unstoppable as a low-turn- over, inside-out offensive presence. He averaged 10 points and 6.3 assists, but if the season was even five games longer, those averages might have skyrocketed. BASKETBALL FROM PAGE 31 SUN PHOTO BY TOM O'NEILL Port Charlotte's Alex Perry (23) is fouled by Barron Collier's Jaheim Arnold (11) at Port Charlotte High School last season