Fort Myers and Bishop Verot basketball has the best rivalry in SWFL

Bishop Verot boys basketball coach Matt Herting remembers the exact date when the biggest game on his calendar became an end of season meeting with Fort Myers.

It was Dec. 16, 2004 in the City of Palms Classic.

But it was a game in February of 2003 that essentially became the precursor for all its future contention.

“All the rivalry stuff started that odd night in 2003 when we held the ball,” Herting said of his team’s drag-it-out 34-29 loss to the Green Wave, which coincided with a fan pushing then Fort Myers coach Ed O'Brien from behind on the sidelines.

It led to the game going on hiatus for a year.

The moment it was back, in 2004, the gym was packed from wall to wall at the The City of Palms Classic at John J. Nevins Gymnasium.

And from there, this matchup, between two schools located just four miles apart, became the best ticket in town. Close games, buzzer-beaters and near-feverish fan support have helped create an enormous appeal for this rivalry game — in the best of years, even tickets have been pre-sold.

"That is still one of the best high school basketball games I've ever been involved in, as a player or from a coaching perspective,” said Zack Ward, a 2006 Bishop Verot graduate who now coaches at LaBelle High. “It's one of the best rivalries in the state.”

On Friday, the Green Wave (13-11) will visit Bishop Verot (8-16) yet again in the annual squabble.

“No matter how good of a season the teams have had, the game is always close,” Fort Myers head coach Scott Guttery said. “So it's one of those things. While Verot has had a rough year, I don't expect it to be a blowout. I think it will be close.”

Herting became the Vikings coach in 1999. Guttery entered the series in 2007, having graduated from Bishop Verot just 10 years earlier. Both coaches have remained extremely close, going so far as to spend time at Guttery’s father’s home after the annual meeting each year to talk shop and eat.

“Scott is one of my closest friends I trust,” Herting said, “and we talk about our teams a lot.”

Over the years, Guttery has distanced himself from his Bishop Verot history, winning a Class 4A title with the Green Wave in 2010. He’s won 203 games with Fort Myers in nine years, including three seasons of over 25 wins.

But in his first game back coaching against the Vikings, he had to prove his allegiance to Fort Myers. Bishop Verot presented him with an award recognizing his commitment to the program — previously, he had been a girls varsity head coach and a boys assistant under Herting.

“I remember feeling shame about it,” Guttery said, “because I’m here coaching Fort Myers. I felt like, ‘Are they truly going to think I’m a Greenie if I’m out here accepting this award?’”

“So when I got back to the huddle, I went in and told the guys, ‘You better win now. I don’t want people to think I’m a Viking.”

Fort Myers ultimately didn’t win that game, but they have won eight out of 14 games against the Vikings since 2003, including two buzzer-beaters in back-to-back years of 2013-14 and four other games that were decided between five points or less.

When the game went to a two-a-season format in 2010-12, Bishop Verot strung together four straight wins. Herting's won over 375 games in 20 years with the program, making the Vikings one of the best small-school programs in the state.

Since that first major City of Palms game in 2004, the game has been one of the most talked about on the calendar, bringing alums and fans from all corners of Southwest Florida.

“I think this year will be a special one for us to win because we've faced more adversity than any other team I've ever coached,” said Herting, commenting that he lost four starters before the season even began. “This could be the payoff for a lot of hard work and a lot of persistence, when things haven't gone like they usually do.”

And yet, success has been good to each team.

Over the last 11 years, they've combined for 17 district titles and 28 state playoff wins. Fort Myers' program was built and led uphill by O'Brien before Guttery took the job. Herting led Bishop Verot to the Class 3A state semifinals in 2009. Both teams have had countless players go on to play college basketball.

Over the years, deafening chants have bounced off the walls of the Wave Cave, which keeps sounds in better than almost any gym in Southwest Florida. John J. Nevins Gymnasium has held some of the biggest high school basketball crowds in the region.

“You could hardly take the ball out,” Ward said of playing in the Wave Cave. “The refs would have to clear people to do an inbounds play.”

And at its core, the meeting between Fort Myers and Bishop Verot has become a player’s game, one that ushers in bragging rights for the next season.

In 2012, for instance, Bishop Verot's Mark Wagner went off for 27 points in a Vikings win just a few months after suffering a life-threatening blood clot that prompted doctors to tell him he may never play again.

Two seasons ago, Fort Myers graduate Mark Matthews, now at University of North Carolina-Wilmington, tipped-in a game-winning attempt at the buzzer inside the Wave Cave, prompting the entire student body to rush the court.

“That was probably the best moment of my high school career,” he said.

It also marked the 10-year reunion of the best high school basketball game in Southwest Florida.

Series History (dating back to 2003)

14-15: Fort Myers, 58-48

13-14: Fort Myers, 57-55

12-13: Fort Myers, 62-60

11-12: Bishop Verot 66-49; Bishop Verot, 61-50

10-11: Bishop Verot, 66-61; Bishop Verot 61-51 OT

09-10: Fort Myers, 66-56

08-09: Fort Myers, 52-48

07-08: Bishop Verot, 77-59

06-07: Bishop Verot, 68-57

05-06: Fort Myers, 70-68

04-05: Fort Myers, 79-64

03-04: No game

02-03: Fort Myers, 34-29

Favorite Moments from past alumni

Reed Baker, Bishop Verot, '06

"As a basketball player who got to continue my career and play at higher levels, that atmosphere was second to none and I look back on it ... those games were the ones that stand out the most." 

Zack Ward, Bishop Verot, '06

"The year that we went to them, in '06, I remember that was one of the most packed games we've ever had. You looked around and it was standing room only. You couldn't move on the bench, because the fans were right on top of you. You could hardly take the ball out. The refs would have to clear people out to do an inbounds play."

Wes Graddy, Fort Myers '14

"I think the biggest thing is the atmosphere. It's unlike any other game I've played in. The fans are so great. The teams are so consistent. It's a good game. No matter the records, it's a rivalry game." 

Mark Matthews, Fort Myers '15

"Definitely that game-winning tip-in against Bishop Verot my junior year. Two thousand fans rushed the court. That was probably the best moment of my high school career. It's always a special game."