All-Area Athletes & Teams
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Page 6 www.yoursun.com Venice fell for the first time in four visits to the state championship, but it was still a memorable ending to another stellar Indians season. JAN. 21, 2023 NOT A FLUKE On Dec. 9, Port Charlotte's boys basketball team looked impressive in keeping Charlotte in check en route to a 55-42 win. The Tarpons felt as if they didn't play their best that night, especially down the stretch as the Pirates pulled away. That game took place at Port Charlotte. Surely, the outcome would be different when the two met again to close out Charlotte High's annual Wally Keller Classic. Right? Wrong. Pirates freshman Dallas Lambert set the tone of this rematch early. In the second quarter of a back-and-forth game, he dribbled the ball slow- ly from hand to hand, sizing up Charlotte star, John Gamble. In a flash, he was gone. When Lambert decided he could take the Sun Preps Player of the Year to the basket off the dribble, he won the battle. Two quarters later, the Pirates won the war. Port Charlotte's 56-47 victory on the Tarpons' home floor in front of a capacity crowd proved that December win was no fluke. "I'm proud of the boys," Port Charlotte coach Kip Rhoten said. "We never changed the plan. We just stayed with what we do." Leading 39-35 entering the fourth quarter, the Pirates pulled away with an 8-1 spree highlighted by Brennan Ingle's steal and dunk, which brought the Pirate half of the crowd to its feet. Caleb Campos then sent the Charlotte half to the exits with another 3-pointer and a tip-in on consecutive posses- sions for a 52-38 advantage. Bode Stewart led all scorers with 22 points while Campos added 11. Lambert also finished with 11 points. "When you've got an athlete like Dallas out there, on any giv- en play he can just go," Rhoten said. "Sometimes it drives you up the wall, but then sometimes it turns out like that." FEB. 18, 2023 THE AMAZIN' ATWOODS OK, so this isn't a team story. This is about a pair of sisters who capped their epic weight- lifting careers with state titles at the Class 1A championships. This entry also stands for all the individual state champions throughout the school year, be it weightlifting, wrestling or swimming. The Atwoods stand out, though, for their sheer dom- inance in the sport. Madison swept the 183-pound Traditional and Olympic competitions for the second consecutive year (the Olympic is just two years old). No one lifting anything in the vicinity of her in 2022 or 2023. Meanwhile, Tristain com- pleted her comeback from an injury-riddled 2022 season to maul the competition in the 199-pound weight class, sweep- ing the Traditional and Olympic fields, as well. Following the season, the sisters announced they will continue their careers at Mars Hill University. FEB. 23, 2023 TARPONS BREAK THROUGH Twice before, Charlotte High's girls basketball team had reached the state's Final Four. Both times, their magical seasons had come to an end. The third time was a charm. In 2022 on the RP Funding Center floor, the Charlotte girls basketball team fell behind and never caught up. This time, they scarcely trailed. In 2021 on the same floor, the Tarpons saw their late lead evaporate in the heat of the moment. This time, they never lost their cool. Charlotte 54, Oakleaf 47. The 2021 game had been Charlotte's happy-to-be-there moment. Last year's start-to- finish defeat at the hands of Bishop Moore stung far worse. With both of those results in mind at tip-off against Oakleaf, Charlotte asserted itself with authority. When D'Yanis Jimenez hit a bucket and a resulting and-one free throw, Charlotte took an 8-6 lead and would never trail again. "We definitely wanted to punch them in the mouth," Jimenez said. "I think we did that." Jimenez and fellow senior Adriana Iorfida proved to be the team's steadying influence. Charlotte didn't play a perfect game, but the two seniors lifted the Tarpons on their backs whenever they needed to shoulder the load. Charlotte would fall in their first-ever state championship game two days later, but cover- ing that final bit of the journey just to reach the destination is what will be remembered for years to come. TITLES FROM PAGE 5A SUN FILE PHOTO BY TOM O'NEILL Port Charlotte celebrates its victory over Charlotte during the 17th Annual Wally Keller Classic on January 21 at Charlotte High School. SUN FILE PHOTO BY TIM KERN State champion weightlifter Madison Atwood, of Imagine School at North Port became a three-time state champion, winning the Class 1A 183 weight class with a combined total of 445 pounds. SUN FILE PHOTO BY CHRIS BLAKE Charlotte's Faith Wharton and the Tarpons defeated Riverdale 6-0 to pick up the program's first district title of the 21st Century. SEE TITLES, 7A