A poor-shooting third quarter cost Ida Baker the lead as Gulf Coast held off a late surge by the Bulldogs Saturday night in the finale of Baker’s Turkey Shootout.

The Sharks opened a nine-point lead with 3:30 to play and refused to wilt when the Bulldogs pulled within two points with 1:11 to play en route to a 53-46 victory.

“I think it was a lack of energy in the third quarter,” said Bulldogs coach Brad Seiss. “We did not guard very well and we have a bad habit of standing around and watching. We’ve got to get more continuity on offense so we don’t have to relay on certain players to do the scoring.”

Baker still trailed by seven with 2:30 to go when Christian Davis hit a layup and converted it into a three-point play at the free throw line with 2:09 to go.

The Sharks countered with an identical three-point play at the other end before the Bulldogs launched their final rally.

Shaun Manego hit a layup as the Bulldogs trimmed the lead to five, followed by a Sharks turnover against full-court pressure. Manego hit a three-pointer with 1:11 to play to cut it to 48-46, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would come.

“We just didn’t get enough defensive stops,” said Seiss. “We’ve struggled with our half-court game, so we’ve got to find a way to speed up our transition.”

The Sharks sealed the victory with a layup and, following a Bulldogs turnover, sank 3-of-4 free throws to put it out of reach with 21 seconds to play.

“In all three of our losses we have led at the half,” said Seiss. “It’s partly parity in the area, but we have to start getting up and down the floor better.”

Manego finished with 13 points to back the game-high 16 points by Christian Davis.

The Bulldogs (0-3) host South Fort Myers Tuesday night in their first district test.

Gulf Coast 12 8 15 18 – 53

Ida Baker 12 14 4 16 – 46

GULF COAST 53 – P. Calabretto 2, Soper 2, Feldt 13, Wesson 3, Neptune 8, T. Eble 12, Matson 7, J. Eble 6.

BAKER 46 – Inchausti 6, Manego 13, Richardson 2, Davis 16, Tufano 2, Deems 5.

Cape Coral 72, Immokalee 60: Cape Coral broke open a tight game with a 25-point run in the third quarter and hung on to beat Immokalee Saturday night in the Baker Turkey Shootout.

David Flynn led the Seahawks with 25 points, including five three-pointers. He collected 13 of his points in the third quarter alone.

The Seahawks got support from Justin Mitchell with 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Santo Figueroa contributed 14 points with seven rebounds and Chase Galuzny added 10 points.

“We responded well after Friday’s loss,” said Seahawks coach Mark Rinehart. “I was proud of the way we accepted the challenge after the poor performance. We played hard and played consistently, and did a good job on defense.”

The Seahawks, who have been dressing just seven players, will go to full strength starting Monday when several football players join the team. Among those are three-year veterans C.J. Carter and James McIntire.

The Seahawks (3-1) travel to Lemon Bay Tuesday for their first district game.

Immokalee 13 8 16 23 – 60

Cape Coral 19 12 25 16 – 72

IMMOKALEE 60 – Johnson 11, Reme 15, Richardson 2, Means 6, Hughes 22, Johnson 2, Henry 2. Totals: 24 4-11 60.

3PG: Reme 5, Hughes 3.

CAPE 72 – Mitchell 19, Galuzny 10, Flynn 25, Bailey 2, Marshall 2, Figueroa 14. Totals: 27 8-12 72.

3PG: Mitchell 3, Galuzny 2, Flynn 5.

C.S. Naples 82, North Fort Myers 70: Steven Mercado pitched in a game-high 23 points, but a 16-point first-half deficit was too much for North Fort Myers to overcome in a loss to Community School of Naples Saturday night in the Baker Turkey Shootout.

Andrew Malaise chipped in with 14 points and Jordan Beerbower added 11 for the Red Knights (0-3), who visit Evangelical Christian Monday in a tuneup for Tuesday’s district opener against Fort Myers.

CSN pressed full court most of the game and wore down the Red Knights with frequent substitutions five at a time every few minutes. One night after hitting 13 three-pointers against Baker, CSN drilled 12 against North.

The Red Knights rallied in the second half, cutting the deficit to eight in the fourth quarter, but could not erase the entire margin.

“We made a big change in attitude in the second half,” said Red Knights coach Mack Mitchell. “It helped to get the lead down to eight, but overall we got beat by the better team. We’ve got to build off the attitude change.

“The program has been on a losing spell for a while and did not have that X-factor to know how to win games. We’ll just try to keep getting better.”

C.S. Naples 22 23 18 19 – 82

North FM 12 17 19 22 – 70

CS NAPLES 82 – Kent 17, Celano 6, Da. Straub 2, Baker 4, Coyne 19, Gerdron 8, Ferguson 5, DeFossez 4, Paul 4, Bressler 14.

NORTH 70 – Malaise 14, Mercado 23, Beerbower 11, Schneider 6, Crowell 6, Feliz 1, Santiago 7.