DIANE FOWLER

Charter School's Mary Gibler goes up for shot in the Lady Eagles close loss to East Naples on Saturday in the Collier County Middle School Basketball League.

DIANE FOWLER

East Naples had some wide bodies to defend in its win over the Marco Island Charter Middle School on Saturday.

DIANE FOWLER

The Marco Island Charter Middle School and East Naples Middle School girls look up to see ball for rebound in Saturday's county school league game won by East Naples.

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The Marco Island Charter Middle School (MICMS) boys and girls basketball teams finished the season with a pair of tough losses, but a feeling of accomplishment.

The girls lost a hard-fought battle, 31-26, while the boys were outmanned, losing, 40-28. The Lady Eagles were down by 13 points, but battled their way back to within five points in the second half.

“We played man to man in the third quarter, which brought us back into the game,” said Coach Craig Fisher. “Jenna Lundquist had a good game. Taylor Bell was aggressive in taking shots. Both Mary Gibler and Katie Hogan were successful in getting rebounds. One thing that really hurt us was when Katie fouled out in the last two minutes of the game.”

With a record of 12-5, this has been the most successful season for the Lady Eagles.

“I’m the happiest coach I can be,” said Fisher. “It has been an awesome season. I am proud of the girls. I hope the eighth graders continue to play basketball next year.”

Seventh grader Mary Gibler realized early the game was going to be tough.

“Despite our loss, we tried our best and played a great game,” she said. “I felt confident, but after the first couple of plays, I realized that it was going to be a struggle.”

Thinking ahead to next season, Mary said, “I’m really going to miss the eighth graders next year.”

Mark Scalia, assistant coach, said, “This is the first time our girls have played a game of this magnitude. It is a disappointing loss. The girls practice hard, and they do everything we tell them to do. This team was special. The kids are not only good players, they are good people.”

Scalia said Fisher coached a good game.

“It was like a chess match between the two coaches,” he said. “We forced East Naples to make some changes.”

The boys had a disappointing loss.

“Obviously we were not too happy with our play,” coach Roger Raymond said. “That being said, I think the eighth grade boys did a good job in the third quarter. East Naples played very well and it would have taken a near perfect effort to beat them.”

Raymond didn’t expect the strong East Naples defensive effort.

“I did not anticipate East Naples being as strong on the perimeter from a defensive standpoint,” he said. “They really made it difficult to start any offensive set. Overall, they were a very good team.”

The high point for the Eagles came when seventh grader Nick Ronquette swished a 3-point shot in the final two seconds of the game from near half court.

The boys finished the season with a 7-9 record, which Raymond thought was good, considering their lack of experience.

“The eighth grade team members had a good season, even with this loss,” Raymond said. “They came to practice almost 100 percent of the time, and that is not to be taken for granted at 5:45 a.m.

“The future should be kind to these young men as they move on to high school. They have learned discipline, which is not always determined by wins and losses. It has been my pleasure to coach them and I hope I have made a positive impact on their lives.”

Raymond thinks his eighth graders are ready to move on to their next challenge.

“Every year at this time I am a little sad that it is over for these boys, but I am able to smile knowing they are ready for what comes next.”

Raymond is already looking forward to next season.

“I think we have great potential in our seventh grade boys, but they must put in some time on the tarmac this summer. Having grown up in basketball crazy Indiana, I can tell you first hand that working on your game, even by yourself, can be very beneficial. If our sixth and seventh grade boys coming back will do this, it will pay in big dividends.”

Raymond said that many young players who did not make the junior varsity or varsity teams this year can also make giant strides with practice.

“Funny things happen with hard work and dedication. It (next season) will be here soon.”

Raymond talked of this season being a ground-breaking year for the school as the teams played in the new gym and the new Collier County Middle School Basketball League.

“Playing Collier County teams was an eye opener for our school,” Raymond said. “Hopefully this year will get us better prepared for the future, as we know the competition will be very tough.”