Top Performers: Southeast at Venice

<p>On Wednesday night, I made the trip over to Sarasota County to watch Southeast take on Venice.</p> <p>After trailing at the half 26-17, the home side Venice rallied back and picked up the 51-44 win.</p> <p>Here is a look at the top performers from the evening.</p> <h3><strong>Malachi Wideman (Venice)</strong></h3> <p>Coming off the bench for Venice in his debut, 2020 6'5" guard <strong>Malachi Wideman</strong> led all scorers with 17 points and pumped up the vast crowd along the way. The FSU football commit had six points at the break, sitting much of the opening quarter. Wideman played well in the second half, adding 11 points and had some big dunks, attacks and really pushed the tempo for his side. He is a difference maker for Venice, especially when he plays unselfishly like he did tonight. He is a superb athlete.</p> <h3><strong>Isaiah Petitefere (Southeast)</strong></h3> <p>The best effort down low for Southeast came in the form of 2021 6'2" forward <strong>Isaiah Petitefere</strong> (11 points). I loved his energy all night long as he wasn't afraid to mix it up on both ends of the floor. The Seminoles had foul trouble with their top pieces in 2021 duo <strong>Maleek Huggins</strong> and <strong>Keivon Johnson </strong>and it made for a hard third quarter, but Petitefere played consistently earning heavy minutes. </p> <h3><strong>Tristan Burroughs &amp; Christian Rodriguez (Venice)</strong></h3> <p>Feeding off Wideman's transition speed, 2021 6'5" forward <strong>Tristan Burroughs</strong> and 2020 6'2" guard <strong>Christian Rodriguez</strong> each had seven points for the Indians. Burroughs flashed his length and weaving ability with Rodriguez is a reliable shooter and a quick twitch passer who loves to get the ball out quick. Both players will play a ton this season for Venice.</p> <h3><strong>Maleek Huggins (Southeast)</strong></h3> <p>Picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, Southeast struggled without Huggins. He is a surefire leader, a very talented and crafty ballhandler and agile finisher. He added 10 points in the game, scoring just three points in the second half. His shot wasn't falling like usual, but he will be just fine since he is a high IQ talent. Southeast will go as far as Huggins takes them as everything runs through him.</p> <h3><strong>Vince Marino (Venice)</strong></h3> <p>2020 6' guard <strong>Vince Marino</strong> may have only recorded two points on the final stat sheet, but he proved his worth defensively. He was taking charges, battling and frustrating Southeast players. Marino impressively had two blocks running back in transition as both were special efforts from the senior guard. He will certainly have better offensive nights, but you can't take away his energy on the defensive end in this game.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">In his debut with Venice basketball, 2020 FSU football commit Malachi Wideman (<a href="https://twitter.com/mightymal13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mightymal13</a>) was doing his usual dunk show and the home crowd loved it. <a href="https://twitter.com/VHSIndianSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VHSIndianSports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/VHSboysbball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VHSboysbball</a> <a href="https://t.co/auos7SIrc1">pic.twitter.com/auos7SIrc1</a></p> — ᴊᴀᴋᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴘᴇʀ (@JakePerper) <a href="https://twitter.com/JakePerper/status/1202422951473225728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2019</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>