



Key West High wrestling coach Chaz Jimenez never hid the fact that his team was going to have a tough regular season.
The Conchs coach said he told his wrestlers at the beginning of the season and reiterated it throughout the year that each meet during the regular season was in preparation for the postseason.
Those ideals paid off for his squad on Saturday at the District 16-1A Championships, as the Conchs won the district title and all 14 Key West matsmen in action advanced to this weekends' Regional 4-1A Championships.
"The kids weren't intimidated at all and that's because of the schedule we wrestled during the season," said Jimenez. "We wrestled such a tough schedule that it really got our kids ready. We may have not had the best records, but when it comes down to it our kids have gone against some of the best in the state, were as the teams in our district all wrestled each other during the year. So it shows that we were more prepared when it comes to districts and regionals."
Now the Conchs, who had seven athletes win district champions and five others claim district runner-ups, will take their hardware to Cardinal Gibbons and a top four individual finish will earn a spot in the 1A State Championship.
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The Marathon High boys basketball team capped the regular season with a rousing 71-52 home win over Key West on Friday night, the school's first win over the Conchs in three seasons.
Dolphins coach Kevin Freeman said he could sense his players were ready to snap that skid during warm-ups.
"They were pumped," he said. "Usually they're kind of goofy before a game, but they were set and their mind was in a good place and they were focused."
Freeman said his team made it a point to try and contain Conchs point guard Keith Valdez, who had averaged 40 points per game in his last two outings against Marathon, and keep a hand in the face of Nick Scammacca to try and limit his outside shot attempts. Although Valdez made several plays -- a couple of circus layups on drives and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter -- he was held to 18 points. Scammacca was held without a 3-pointer and finished with just four points.
"We knew if we could limit his drives to the basket and keep him off the free throw line, we'd have a good shot," Freeman said of Valdez, who went 5-for-6 from the foul line.
Marathon (14-5) was able to take advantage of early foul trouble from the Conchs (10-10) and build an early lead. The Dolphins reached the double bonus in the first half, and Conchs big men Je'Quan Lopez and Irekaz Womack spent extended minutes on the bench in foul trouble.
"I'm not taking anything from them, they made their shots in the end, but at the beginning we were right there," Key West coach Paul Davis said. "We felt we started getting the momentum back, but then we got a quick foul here and a quick foul there and it was like, 'Here we go again.' ... That basically put us into a hole."
Freeman didn't disagree.
"Key West was in foul trouble early, and that helped us out," he said. "They got a little bit smaller and I think we took advantage of that."
Marathon will host the District 16-2A tournament, which will begin Tuesday night. The Dolphins have a first-round bye and will open play Friday in the semifinals.
Key West will travel to Miami Norland to take on Miami Central in the first round of the District 16-4A tournament Wednesday night.
Coral Shores (2-15) will open play in the District 16-3A tournament Tuesday at Archbishop Carroll. The Hurricanes will flip a coin with Barrington Christian, with the winner taking on St. Brendan and the loser taking on top-seed Ransom Everglades.
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On the girls side, Key West is the lone remaining Keys team in the postseason.
The Conchs (16-7), who fell to Miami Norland for the third time this season in the District 16-4A tournament title game Saturday night, will open the regional quarterfinals at Archbishop McCarthy on Thursday.
Coral Shores (7-9) saw its season come to an end in the first round of the District 16-3A tournament with a heart-breaking 40-39 loss to Archbishop Carroll. Marathon was eliminated from the District 16-2A tournament Friday night.
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The prep soccer season has come to a close for all the Keys soccer teams. With only two teams, the Key West High boys team and the Coral Shores High girls teams, still in its respective state playoffs entering last week, both squads failed to make it past the regional stage of the tournament. The Conchs lost 2-1 in a penalty kick shootout to Pembroke Pines Charter, while the Lady 'Canes lost for the fourth time this season to Gulliver Prep 2-0.