The Mariner Tritons nailed down the No. 2 seed in District 4A-11 Tuesday night when they escaped with a 55-54 victory over the Cape Coral Seahawks at Frank Morris Gymnasium.

The first 30 minutes of the game was a back-and-forth tussle with 11 lead changes. The Tritons held their collective breath while going scoreless over the last two minutes. Victory was not assured until 6-foot-9 junior Kendrec Ferrara blocked Justin Mitchell’s last-second shot at the buzzer to seal the win.

“I was proud of the way we played,” said Seahawks coach Mark Rinehart, who called timeout with 1.8 seconds on the clock to set up the final in-bounds play. “That last play was one of the options. I knew they would have Kendrec defend the throw-in and he was there to block the shot.”

The Tritons started quickly, opening a 22-10 lead seconds into the second quarter, but went cold from the floor as the Seahawks fought back to take a 29-28 halftime lead.

The Seahawks opened a five-point lead in the third quarter, their largest lead of the game. The Tritons took the lead for good at 50-48 with 4:41 left on Nick Marrero’s first of two three-point baskets down the stretch. His second three-pointer put the Tritons in front 55-50 with 2:11 remaining. That was the final points for the Tritons.

The Seahawks fouled six straight times in order to put the Tritons on the free throw line. The strategy worked as three different Tritons missed the front end of bonus free throw situations in the last 43 seconds.

With 30 seconds left, Cape’s Nate Henry hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 55-53.

After the Tritons missed the second of those bonus free throw chances, the Seahawks missed a shot and two offensive rebound chances when Mitchell was fouled. He hit the first to record the final point, but missed the second and Ferrara was fouled grabbing the rebound with 10.8 seconds on the clock.

Cape got the ball out of bounds after Ferrara missed the free throw and called timeout with 1.8 to go to set up the final play.

“It was my fault. I should have taken the timeout a second or so sooner,” said Rinehart. “We had opportunities to win it in the last four minutes, not just the last play. I’ve preached that we have to believe we are close to being able to beat teams in our district, and this proves how close we are. We can’t get much closer than this.”

Mitchell finished with a game-high 14 points and six assists for the Seahawks and David Flynn contributed 12 points.

Marrero led the Tritons with 12 points and four assists while Derick Adams added 11 points and seven rebounds and Justin Emmons 10 points and seven rebounds.

“Free throws come down to wanting that moment,” said Tritons coach James Harris. “It’s a mentality thing. Make the free throws to keep it a two- or three-possession game. This is new for our players, they were not in these tight situations last year, but I have confidence that they will step up.”

The Tritons (11-5, 7-1 district) play their final district game Friday at South Fort Myers. The Seahawks (9-8, 5-3) host Dunbar Thursday and Ida Baker Friday.

Cape Coral10 19 14 11 – 54

Mariner20 8 11 16 – 55

CAPE 54 – Henry 8, Mitchell 14, Galuzny 5, Flynn 12, McIntyre 1, Bailey 4, Marshall 2, Figueroa 6, Daniels 2. Totals: 19 8-14 54.

3PG: Henry 2, Mitchell 1, Galuzny 1, Flynn 4.

MARINER 55 – Stamps 6, Bender 5, Adams 11, Marrero 12, Guerrier 9, Ferrara 2, Emmons 10. Totals: 22 4-9 55.

3PG: Stamps 2, Bender 1, Adams 1, Marrero 2, Guerrier 1,

Lemon Bay 64, Ida Baker 56: Andy Zappia poured in a game-high 33 points and Hunter Smith added 21 to propel Lemon Bay to victory at Ida Baker.

“This was our worst shooting performance of the year,” said Baker coach Brad Seiss.

The Bulldogs had three players score in double figures, but misfired on all but two shots from three-point range. Christian Davis led with 16 points with Shaun Manego adding 12 points and eight assists and Mike Richardson chipping in 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Jesse Tufano grabbed 10 rebounds and Phil Deems grabbed nine to go with four blocks.

The Bulldogs (8-7, 4-4 district) play at Cape Coral Friday.

Lemon Bay15 14 12 23 – 64

Ida Baker18 7 14 17 – 56

LEMON BAY 64 – Kisidan 3, Stealey 2, Zappia 33, Labadoe 5, Smith 21. Totals: 20 23-31 64.

3PG: Labadoe 1.

BAKER 56 – Inchausti 4, Manego 12, Evans 2, Richardson 11, Davis 16, Tufano 4, Deems 7. Totals: 19 16-25 56.

3PG: Inchausti 1, Davis 1.

Bishop Verot 55, Gateway Charter 17: Nate Howard and Nathan Taylor broke into double figures with 11 points apiece to lead Bishop Verot to a blowout win at Gateway Charter.

The Vikings (11-4, 6-0 district) took a double-digit lead in the first quarter and coasted the rest of the way. They play at LaBelle Thursday.

Bishop Verot17 12 22 4 – 55

Gateway 2 4 7 4 – 17

VEROT 55 – Wagner 8, Taylor 11, Reeves 4, Dierkschiede 5, Mosher 4, Williams 6, Doyle 4, Howard 11, Brittenham 2. Totals: 22 7-12 55.

3PG: Howard 2, Dierkschiede 1, Wagner 1.

GATEWAY 17 – McGinnis 7, Colon 5, Murray 3, Lamela 2. Totals: 6 4-8 17.

3PG: Colon 1.

Boys Soccer

Cape Coral 1, Mariner 1: Cape Coral kept its unbeaten record intact with a come-from-behind tie with archrival Mariner.

Mariner broke the scoring ice with 20 minutes left in the match when Juan Rincon sent a long free kick to the area where Tim Thomas could get to it first for a 30-yard line-drive goal to the back post.

The Seahawks got the tying goal with about eight minutes remaining, also following a free kick by Paolo Acosta. Kayck Freire redirected the ball toward the goal where Oscar Camacho tapped it in for the tie.

Goalkeeper Daniel Villamil had 12 saves for the Seahawks while Matt Brust made nine saves for the Tritons.

Mariner (13-8-2, 3-4-1 district) visits South Fort Myers for its final district match Friday.

Cape (15-0-3, 5-0-3) hosts Dunbar Thursday and Baker Friday.

Ida Baker 2, Lemon Bay 1: Nick Presti scored two goals, both in the first half, to lead Ida Baker past Lemon Bay in a District 4A-11 match.

Daniel Sharkey and Steve Dowling recorded assists on Presti’s goals while Louis Schlichenmeyer made three saves in net for the Bulldogs (9-9-1), who play their final district match Friday at Cape Coral.

Estero 3, North Fort Myers 1: Estero scored two early goals en route to dumping North Fort Myers.

Ben Hamilton’s goal in the second half brought North within 2-1, but the Wildcats added a penalty kick goal to seal the margin.

Roberto Ordonez made 11 saves in net for the Red Knights, who visit Cypress Lake Friday night.

Girls Basketball

Cape Coral 60, Mariner 24: Freshman Crystal Townsend scored a game-high 19 points to go with 12 rebounds to lead Cape Coral to victory over city and district rival Mariner.

Camary Williams pitched in with 14 points and Kassie Griffin added 13 for the Seahawks (5-15, 4-4 district), who host Dunbar Thursday.

The Tritons (4-17) host South Fort Myers Friday.

Mariner5 9 6 4 – 24

Cape Coral13 19 12 16 – 60

MARINER 24 – Lanza 1, Gibbs 4, Dodson 3, Brinkdopke 5, O’Connor 5, Griffin 2. Totals: 9 4-7 24.

3PG: Dodson 1, O’Connor 1.

CAPE 60 – Williams 14, Griffin 13, Smart 5, Townsend 19, Hunter 6, Brice 2, Carvajal 1. Totals: 26 8-17 60.

3PG: none.

Lemon Bay 44, Ida Baker 42: A combination of turnovers and poor shooting doomed Ida Baker to defeat at Lemon Bay.

Jessey Placher managed 12 points and Alicia Emmons 10 to lead the Bulldogs (11-9, 5-3 district), who host Cape Coral in the final district game Friday.

Ida Baker7 9 8 18 – 42

Lemon Bay5 18 13 8 – 44

BAKER 42 – Nicloy 5, Emmons 10, Placher 12, Del Negro 7, Brown 5, Ramsey 3. Totals: 17 4-11 42.

3PG: Placher 2, Del Negro 1, Brown 1.

LEMON BAY 44 – Livesey 5, Freiberg 16, Kelly 15, Smith 2, Reid 4, Sweeterman 2. Totals: 18 7-18 44.

3PG: Livesey 1.