Forwards power St. Andrew’s past Chaminade to title game

Basa-Ama, Minott notch double-doubles for the Scots

LAKELAND — The St. Andrew’s gym is lined with banners celebrating the school’s state championships.

There are no banners for basketball titles, though. Just one with the years the Scots have gone to the state title game and come back with a runner-up trophy.

“Lacrosse, lacrosse, lacrosse, lacrosse, swimming, swimming, swimming, tennis, lacrosse, tennis, lacrosse, golf, golf,” Scots senior Yussif Basa-Ama said, listing the championship banners. “It’s our gym. It’s the basketball gym. We want to put something up there to represent basketball.”

St. Andrew’s will have a chance to put a championship banner up in its gym this year. The Scots beat Chaminade-Madonna 68-58 in the Class 3A state semifinals on Wednesday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

Under coach John O’Connell, the Scots now have advanced to the state championship game four times — also in 1995, 2006 and 2013 — with no titles.

“It’s so exciting getting to the Final Four, I actually made a statement [in 1995] — God’s honest truth — I said if I can make it to the Final Four with a chance to win the state championship once a decade, I’d be fine,” O’Connell said.

“And here it is: once a freakin’ decade. I jinxed myself.”

The Scots’ star forwards, Basa-Ama and Joshua Minott, paved the way for St. Andrew’s. Both had double-doubles, with

Basa-Ama leading all scorers with 25 points and Minott finishing with 19 points. Both had 10 rebounds.

St. Andrew’s dominated Chaminade on the boards, outrebounding the Lions 45-24. In addition to the 20 rebounds from Basaama and Minott, Jackson May added eight rebounds while Devin Hines and Landon Brody had four each.

“These two do a great job on the boards, but it’s a five-man effort,” O’Connell said. “We pride ourselves on being able to get the ball off the boards and go, but we do make sure that we get five guys rebounding the ball.

Thad Franklin, a three-time state champion in football and a Miami Hurricanes commit, led the Lions with 19 points, while Johnny O’Neil, an American signee, had 17 points.

Chaminade stayed in the game for the first half and tied the score at 30 early in the third quarter. But St. Andrew’s went on a 13-0 run that provided the separation the Scots needed for the rest of the game.

“The numbers don’t lie,” Chaminade coach Andre Torres said. “They more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds. That was the story of the game. … Offensive rebounds really hurt us today and cost us the game.”

O’Connell has been the head basketball coach at St. Andrew’s for 35 years and has taken three previous teams to the state title game, and he said this year’s team has a chance to make its mark on Saturday. St. Andrew’s will play Jacksonville Andrew Jackson at 10 a.m.

“They can put a stamp on being the best team we’ve ever had on Saturday,” O’Connell said.