Riviera Prep rides defense to first state championship

LAKELAND

Riviera Prep boys’ basketball coach Anthony Shahbaz had a good feeling about his team Saturday.

Three days earlier, Shahbaz watched eighthgrader Myles Fuentes’ game-winner with one second left send the Bulldogs back to the state finals.

And five days before that, he watched Riviera Prep erase an 18-point deficit against Westminster Academy to earn a trip back to Lakeland.

“I felt after the way those last two games ended that there was something bigger waiting for us,” Shahbaz said.

It turns out Shahbaz was onto something.

Riviera Prep brought home its first state championship in emphatic fashion with a 51-27 rout of Windermere Prep in the Class 3A state final Saturday at the RP Funding Center.

The Bulldogs (27-6) used a smothering defense that held Windermere Prep to the lowest point total by any team in a state final since 1950.

That was the year Riviera Prep opened its doors as a K-8 school, expanding to become a high school in 2011. The Bulldogs completed their third state final four appearance with their first championship in only the sixth season for their boys’ basketball program.

“I thought we’d have a chance to blow them out, not because [Windermere Prep] is a bad team or has a lack of talent, but I just saw this team laser-focused during the past two days of practice,” Shahbaz said.

The Lakers committed nearly as many turnovers (26) as they had points. Windermere Prep’s leading scorer Brandon Bass

Jr. (18.1 points per game this season) shot 0 for 11 and was held scoreless with five turnovers.

Windermere Prep led 5-4 just before a 10-minute delay due to a scoreboard malfunction. When play resumed, the Bulldogs took the lead on a layup by Dante Allen and never trailed again.

“We’ve prided ourselves on defense all year. Out of the 33 games we’ve played, in 27 of them we’ve held the other team to a season low,” Shahbaz said. “We take it personal with scores and we feel we are going to make you earn every point. We win with class but we’re a little nasty on defense.”

Riviera Prep had 15 steals, led by 7-foot sophomore Gustavo Guimaraes, who had four of those takeaways. He led the Bulldogs on the offensive end with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

Guimaraes, who played his second season for Riviera Prep since moving to Miami from his native Brazil, also did a great job shutting down Windermere Prep’s own 7-foot center, Sinan Hua (two points).

“The last game I didn’t play my best game and I just wanted to do the best I could for my team,” Guimaraes said.

Allen finished with 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting, but found himself in more of a distributor role in Saturday’s game, which drew praise from his coach.

Allen, Cooper Josefsberg and Joe Radcliffe Ametepe each had three steals.

Ametepe delivered another