Wellington boys hang onto perfect record Oxbridge girls back in state semifinals: The Thun- derWolves have been here before. A year ago, Oxbridge Academy beat Tampa Catholic to clinch the team’s berth in the Class 5A state semifinals — at the time, the

WELLINGTON — When Linton Brown sank a buzzer-beating three-point shot to finish a strong first quarter, Welling- ton’s boys basketball team appeared well on its way to routing visiting Atlantic.

Instead, the Eagles lin- gered around, especially by capitalizing on turnovers and drawing fouls. But the 11-point first-quarter differ- ence was critical for the Wolverines, as they hung on to win, 68-65, to continue their undefeated season and advance to the Class 9A regional finals.

Led by Bryan Williams’ 21 points and Brown’s 20, Wellington (29-0) excelled at spreading its offense across a number of scorers early in the game. Three Wolverines had successful first-quarter field goals, while the Eagles (17-11) wens Wellington Albert relied for on coach early guard points. Matt RodColin of Williams credited and the Nico passing Toledo for the team’s offensive success. Both players consistently connected with teammates who had clear shots or open lanes to the basket.

But what happened away from the ball was just as important, Colin said. The coach said his players were effective at setting screens to give the Wolverines chances to score.

“They executed to a T,” Colin said. “That’s why we were able to find some guys for open shots.” Albert led all scorers with 23 points, while Atlantic’s Reginald Duhart added 11 points blocks on and defense. a handful of Forcing turnovers and difficult shots, the Eagles’ defense kept them in the game late in the fourth quar- ter, when they cut the lead to one point with fewer than 30 seconds left. there, they’re a year older, they’re upperclassmen now, and they’re just really focused on the task at hand,” Wolfe said. “So it’s not so much of the joy of getting to Lakeland. Now, it’s that they have a job to do when they get there.”

That job starts today at 4 p.m., when Oxbridge (25-5) plays Fort Lauderdale-Cardinal Gibbons (22-6) in the semifinals. — ADAM LICHTENSTEIN