LHP downed
But future looking very bright for young Highlanders
LAKELAND — Lake Highland Prep, playing with only one senior starter and without leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh, had top-ranked Tampa Catholic on its heels for a half on Thursday.
But the Highlanders couldn’t keep up with the Crusaders in the second half and lost 65-54 in a Class 4A boys basketball state semifinal game at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
“They start five seniors and those guys have been here four years in a row,” Lake Highland coach Ben Fratrik said of TC’s state tournament experience. “I give credit to them. Their defensive intensity cracked up in the third quarter. They were not to be denied.”
The Crusaders improved to 26-5 and will shoot for their first state championship since 1995 on Friday afternoon against Fort Lauderdale Stranahan (23-9).
Lake Highland finished 24-7 and is due to bring back 10 of 15 players on its state roster.
“Nothing is guaranteed, but we certainly hope to be back here,” Fratrik said. “Getting a fully healthy Brice back and getting these guys to continue to develop over the summer. … that makes for a bright future.”
Sensabaugh’s sophomore season ended last Friday when MRI results showed a slight meniscus tear in a sore knee. He averaged 17.3 points per game.
The Highlanders started strong, with tenth grade guard Jared Berry scoring his team’s first 8 points.
The younger brother of former Lake Highland great Joel Berry II hit two 3-point shots and then made two free throws for an 8-4 lead.
The Highlanders expanded their advantage with a 12-3 second quarter run that started with junior Miles Stewart swishing consecutive 3-point shots. He scored again after grabbing a loose rebound. Two free throws by Victor Brown Jr., the lone senior starter, staked Lake Highland to a 30-24 lead. It was 32-27 at halftime.
Tampa Catholic scored the first six points of the third quarter to reclaim the lead and retained that momentum the rest of the way.
Lake Highland’s hopes dimmed significantly when Brown picked up his fourth foul just 1:03 into the second half with his team up by one point. He stayed in the game and was assessed his fifth and final foul when he bumped Tampa Catholic’s Johni Broome in an effort to stop a breakaway with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter.
“It just hurts,” Brown said in a postgame press conference. “Especially since this is my last game wearing a Lake Highland uniform.”
Broome, a 6-9 senior, led Tampa Catholic with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Isaiah Elmore, a 6-8 senior, added 9 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.
The Crusaders out-rebounded Lake Highland 41-27 but had only a 32-30 advantage for points in the paint.
Berry led Lake Highland with 18 points and had 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Stewart, a 6-foot-7 forward who only recently turned 15 years old, scored 12 points. Gabe Ferguson, also a 6-7 junior, scored 11 points and had a teambest 7 rebounds.
“We don’t win without Victor and we don’t get here without all five of our seniors,” Fratrik said. “Those guys established our culture. I think we’ll be back but we’re going to miss all of those guys.”