Sagemont outlasts OCP for third state championship
LAKELAND
Sagemont’s boys’ basketball team had plenty of room on one side of its home gym to hang one more state championship banner next to the ones from its previous two titles.
But there was no more room to stick a fifth state runner-up banner on the other side without some major redecorating.
The Lions won’t have to worry about that after scoring one of their biggest victories in school history Friday night when they dethroned three-time defending state champion Orlando Christian Prep 67-66 after a thrilling finish to the Class 2A state championship game at the RP Funding Center.
“It feels so much better to be on this side,” Sagemont coach David Roe said. “These boys found solutions tonight at the end for a lot of things that could have not gone our way and not let that faze them. They found a way to bring it home.”
Thanks largely to senior Tynan Becker’s 25 points, including 6 of 13 shooting from 3-point range, and a clutch go-ahead free throw by Ashton Smith after he drew a foul with one second remaining, Sagemont (29-4) can now hoist its third state championship banner right next to the ones it won in
2011 and 2014.
Sagemont never trailed in a victory that came a year after it finished as state runner-up following a lopsided 66-49 loss to OCP.
Sagemont allowed the same amount of points to the Warriors a year later. But Roe believed his team would match up better on the offensive end against Orlando Christian Prep thanks to a lineup that was forced to lean more on its bigs down the stretch following a season-ending injury to starting point guard Cameron Gibson and therefore gain a better foothold in the paint against OCP’s frontcourt.
For most of Friday’s final, Sagemont outplayed the 10-time state champions, leading by as many as 19 points early in the fourth.
But the Warriors steadily chopped away until cutting it to 66-61 with 33.6 seconds left.
The title could have slipped away from Sagemont after a couple of calls led to OCP scoring five consecutive points and tying the game at 66 with 15 seconds left.
But the Lions kept their composure after traveling initially called on Ka’Leel Stillman was reversed by another official after he had called a foul on Sagemont’s Deontae Jean, who fouled out as a result.
After a brief discussion with the officials, a technical was assessed to Sagemont’s bench. OCP proceeded to hit three of the four ensuing free throws and retain possession, which led to Isaiah Brown tying the game with 15 seconds left.
“I just wanted to ask the officials to get together to make sure they had the right player on the foul because [Jean] was not involved in the play,” Roe said. “Apparently I have 15 seconds before we need to set up for the next play and I was called for the tech because I used up my 15 seconds. I did not know about this rule until the state championship game so I know now not to use up my 15 seconds.”
But on Sagemont’s final possession, Smith, who scored 15 points and had nine assists, drew a foul from OCP’s Jayden Alberty and calmly made the first free throw. He then missed the second intentionally, but the Warriors grabbed the rebound and quickly called their final timeout.
OCP’s desperation heave by Ameer Ramadan from the backcourt wasn’t even close and Sagemont could finally exhale.
“We just know how to handle a lot of adverse situations,” Smith said. “I wanted to make the last one but coach said to miss it. I knew there was no way they were gonna make a shot with 0.2 seconds left.”
Becker hit the first of his threepointers to start the game, allowing Sagemont to lead until OCP tied it in the final minute.
Becker nailed four of those triples in the third quarter and Jean hit four others to finish with 12 points as Sagemont shot 12 of 30 from beyond the arc.
“We’ve gone through this plenty of times this season where it’s come down to the last few seconds and having that knowledge and being able to keep our heads was really helpful,” Becker said.
Andre C. Fernandez: @FernandezAndreC