Holiday tournaments brought a mixture of success for Cape Coral teams, including championships by the Ida Baker boys’ basketball team and Cyclones boys’ soccer team.

Baker captured the title Wednesday night in the Holiday Madness tournament at East Lee County High School with a 74-65 win over East River. Senior Shaun Manego was chosen as the tournament MVP after scoring 50 points in the Bulldogs’ three wins, including a season-high 26 in the title game.

Cape High experienced the opposite end of the spectrum, dropping two of three in the Gulfshore Shootout at Golden Gate.

Before that tournament Cape coach Mark Rinehart said, “No one enjoys getting drilled by 40 points.” Well, the Seahawks got drilled by 55 points by Ensworth (Tenn.) in the first round of the tournament and, no, they did not enjoy it. Ensworth won the tournament in 2008 and was runner-up in 2007. Despite two lopsided wins, Ensworth lost in the semifinals and won the third-place game.

The Seahawks rebounded from that embarrassment to beat Lely, but lost in the consolation semifinals to Lakeland Tenoroc 61-46.

Mariner, on the other hand, played for third place Thursday in a holiday tournament at Chaminade, but lost to the host team 65-57.

“We struggled to play a whole game this week,” said Tritons coach James Harris.

The Tritons started the third quarter on a 10-2 run to open a double-digit lead. Sophomore Rick Moore and senior Nick Marrero led the Tritons to a 27-point quarter by hitting seven of the team’s 10 three-pointers. Moore, who hit four threes in the quarter, finished with 15 points and Marrero, who hit three threes, had 14 total points.

“We had a very good third quarter and got the tempo in our direction, but they made a run in the fourth quarter to beat us,” said Harris.

Chaminade countered with a 23-7 spurt in the final period.

“We had our best free throw night, percentage-wise (7-of-7), but we wasted a good shooting night by not getting to the free throw line enough,” said Harris.

The Tritons (9-4) return to regular season play next Friday at Lemon Bay.

“We have to try to refocus and get ready for (the rest of) our district games starting next week,” said Harris.

Mariner11 12 27 7 – 57

Chaminade 6 18 18 23 – 65

MARINER 57 – Bender 7, Marrero 14, Moore 15, Minto 3, Guerrier 6, Ferrara 6, Emmons 6. Totals: 20 7-7 57.

3PG: Moore 5, Marrero 3, Bender 1, Minto 1.

CHAMINADE 65 – Perkins 6, Williams 21, Armbiste 11, Lopez 8, Baker 19. Totals: 22 15-27 65.

3PG: Williams 2, Lopez 2, Armbiste 1, Baker 1.

Great Florida Shootout: Bishop Verot finished off its appearance in the Great Florida Shootout in Kissimmee with a 55-51 victory over Bartow, the defending Class 5A state champion.

“We led the whole way, never lost the lead,” said Vikings coach Matt Herting. “It was a big win for us.”

Nate Howard Led the Vikings (8-4) with 23 points with Ricky Doyle adding 11.

The Vikings return to regular season play Tuesday when they host Gateway Charter.

Boys Soccer

Sun Bowl Showcase: The Cape Coral U17 boys Cyclones captured the championship trophy of the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl Showcase tournament with a 2-0 victory Thursday over Triangle (N.C.) Soccer Club in Brandon.

Caio Amaral and Michael Arenz scored the goals for the Cyclones, both in the second half. Goalkeeper Daniel Villamil made 11 saves to preserve the shutout and was awarded the championship MVP trophy.

All three, and several other Cyclones, play for the Cape High Seahawks.

Girls Soccer

Orange Classic: The results were not the most desirable for the U17 girls’ Lee County Strikers, but the exposure to college recruiters outweighs whatever disappointment remains after finishing fifth in a six-team bracket of the Showcase II division.

The Strikers completed the four-day tournament Thursday with a 1-1 tie with TSC Elite (Ga.). Paige Law scored the Strikers’ goal in the first half and TSC Elite did not tie the game until the final 20 seconds of the game.

“We had some great opportunities and played very, very well in the first half,” said Strikers coach John Robinson. “Take out the last few minutes of the last three games and the results would have been more desirable.”

The Strikers (1-2-1) gave up the game-winning goal in a 1-0 loss Tuesday in the final five minutes. Two goals in the final six minutes beat them 2-0 Wednesday.

“I still think we are one of the top four teams in the state,” said Robinson. “All the teams we played are ranked higher than us and we proved we are capable of beating them. This helps improve our ranking in the state.”

Their four opponents in the Orange Classic from Georgia, Texas and Pennsylvania all are in the middle of their seasons while the Strikers have been together as a team only once since their league season ended in October. The Strikers players are spread out playing for their respective high school teams.

“These showcases have become so big with so many teams involved that the college coaches only have a window of 15 or 20 minutes to see the players perform,” said Robinson. “The coaches go from here to Disney tomorrow for another massive showcase.”

Meanwhile, the Strikers gather again in about two weeks for a tournament in Naples before beginning serious preparations for the State Cup tournament after the high school season ends in February.