Seminole storms back to top Oviedo in OT
The Oviedo-vs.-Seminole boys’ basketball rivalry has become a nail-biting affair that continued on Friday night.
Trailing by 17 points late in the third quarter, the Seminoles — behind clutch play from O’Shae Baker and Demari Henderson — stormed all the way back to force overtime and then prevailed 66-65. The wild win kept Seminole (10-4) at the top of the Class 9A, District 2 standings alongside of Lake Brantley with a 5-1 district record.
Henderson stole the ball and scored the winning basket on a layup with 20 seconds left. He and Baker led Seminole with 18 points each.
“You can’t quit, you can’t quit,” said Seminole coach Sylvester Wynn. “You’ve got to keep fighting. It was definitely a big district game for us. It’s probably the two best teams in the district. We want to try to get that first seed for the district.”
Oviedo’s Mamush Galloway missed the potential game-winner on a short shot inside the paint as time expired.
“We ran the play we wanted to,” Oviedo coach Jason Vallery said. “We got a good look at the basket. You can’t ask for more in that situation.”
James Groetsch led Oviedo with 17 points. Aiden Knight added 15 points, and Galloway had 14 for the Lions.
It was Seminole’s second close victory against Oviedo (11-4, 5-2) this season after having won 67-66 on Dec. 5 in Sanford.
Lake Brantley, which also has just one district loss, plays at Oviedo next Wednesday and at Seminole next Friday night.
Oviedo has a tough turnaround. The Lions face Apopka at 5 p.m. on Saturday as part of the Nathan Hayes Shootout at Mount Dora Christian. Seminole also plays Saturday in a district game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Orange City University.