State champ Eagles fly high
Poinciana’s Brandon Murat, left, and Kimar Edwards celebrate after the Eagles beat Bishop Kenny 66-42 in the Class 5A state high school basketball championship Saturday,
LAKELAND — All season Poinciana coach Shane Whitsett told his team, “Just play your game.”
That was fast, athletic, balanced on offense and quick to steal the ball on defense. And it didn’t matter if the Eagles were on high school basketball’s biggest stage, that’s exactly what they did.
Three players scored in double digits, and Poinciana (27-5) had 11 steals as it ran away with a 66-42 win over Jacksonville Bishop Kenny (28-4) in the Class 5A championship game Saturday at the Lakeland Center.
It was the first team state title in any sport for the Osceola County school, which opened southwest of Kissimmee in 1991.
“It feels awesome. Unbelievable,” Eagles coach Shane Whitsett said as he prepared to accept the state championship trophy and medals. “When you’ve got athletes, you gotta let ’ em loose sometimes. You can’t restrict ‘em all the time, trying to be so organized. You’ve got to let players play. When you’ve got playmakers, they go out there and play the game.”
The Eagles were outsized, with the Crusaders starting no one shorter than 6-foot-4, but far more athletic, possibly a by-product of having a college-sized home court.
Brandon Murat led the champs with 14 points and six rebounds. Nate Louis scored 12 points, and Kimar Edwards had 10.
“We’ve been talking about this since we were kids, talking about, ‘We want to be champs, state champs,’” Louis said of himself, Murat and T.J. Gill, all seniors who have played together since sixth grade. “We stayed focus.”
Poinciana jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the first quarter and never trailed again.
Sophomore Jose Zabala provided energy off the bench in the second quarter, grabbing two steals and five points. The Eagles also got three charges on defense.
Poinciana was district runner-up to Leesburg and won five straight to take the title, including a rematch against the Yellow Jackets in a region semifinal.
Bishop Kenny, led by Chris Joyce (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Christian Carlyle (13 points), committed 19 turnovers, and shot just .304 percent from the field, compared to Poinciana’s .510 percent.
The Crusaders trailed 24-16 after two quarters, and switched it up to a zone defense after halftime.
Poinciana remained focused and scored seven straight points for a 31-18 lead.
Starters were pulled in the final minutes.
“It feels good, man,” Murat said. “Our defense, our intensity, the crowd gave us motivation. We just really wanted it.”
Poinciana’s title, coupled with the 3A crown won by Windermere Prep on Thursday, gives the Sentinel coverage area multiple boys basketball state championships for the fifth time in seven seasons.
There were two in 2010, 2011 and 2013, and a recordsetting four two years ago. Last season there were none.