Oak Ridge comes up short
Winter Haven wins on buzzer-beater
With 10.9 seconds left in the game, the Oak Ridge Pioneers’ defense was one stop away from forcing overtime.
Winter Haven junior forward Isaac Celiscar drove to the basket but couldn’t get the layup to go in. After players on both teams fought for the rebound, the ball eventually found its way into senior guard Kjei Parker’s hands beyond the arc.
Parker took one final shot before the buzzer and found nothing but net to end Oak Ridge’s season with a 61-58 loss in the FHSAA Class 7A semifinal at the RP Funding Center on Friday.
“We had them on their heels,” Pioneers coach Steve Reece said. “We didn’t take care of the ball down the stretch and it came back to haunt us.”
Junior forward and UCF commit Cameron Simpson singlehandedly carried the Pioneers (19-10) for stretches of the second half. Simpson had 21 points and shot 5-for-8 on 3-pointers.
“I just realized we came too far to lose,” Simpson said. “We fought hard to come back when we decided to step it up. I just did what I had to do.”
Junior forward Tyler Johnson had 17 points and 7 rebounds, and junior forward Jordan Tillery scored 13 along with 5 assists.
The Blue Devils (27-4) had four players score in double digits. Celiscar had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Georgia signee Dylan James scored 12 points and had 9 rebounds.
Parker chipped in 12 points.
The Pioneers trailed by 11 points to start the third quarter, then responded with a 15-4 run to tie the game 41-41 on a layup from Tillery with 4:19 left.
Oak Ridge and Winter Haven traded baskets down the stretch. The game was tied eight times and the lead changed hands on six times.
“I knew we’d fight back,” Reece said. “We’ve been doing that all year. We’ve been pretty battletested.”
Oak Ridge regained the lead 56-55 on a 3-pointer from Simpson with 4:35 remaining.
The lead grew to three after a dunk by Johnson. After a defensive stop, the Pioneers tried to dribble significant time off the clock.
That ultimately backfired as Celiscar got a steal and made one free throw after getting fouled with 2:04 left. The Pioneers turned the ball over again on a bad pass from Tillery and the Blue Devils tied it up on a rim-rattling putback from James with 1:21 to play.
Next, senior guard Terrel Redding deflected a pass with a minute left and Winter Haven held the ball before calling a timeout to set up the final play.
“Our youth showed down the stretch,” Reece said. “Their [Winter Haven’s] seniors stepped up.”
The Pioneers are set to have all of their main contributors come back from a junior-heavy squad this season.
Oak Ridge played a national schedule and had lost to just two teams from Florida — Tampa Catholic, which reached the final four in Class 3A, and Olympia twice — ahead of Friday.
“We’ll be back,” Reece said. “I’m proud of our boys. I think we had the toughest road to get here.”