South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Panthers punch ticket to semis
Dwyer advances to 7A state for 1st time in a decade
CORAL SPRINGS — Dwyer hasn’t been to Lakeland in 10 years, but the Panthers punched their ticket to the state semifinals with a 70-54 road win over Coral Springs in the Class 7A regional finals on Friday in Coral Springs.
“It’s big because we didn’t do this in 10 years,” Dwyer senior Tre’Von Taylor said. “And we’re just bringing it back for the new generation. It’s big for this program.”
But early in Friday’s game, it looked like the Panthers might not have enough to overtake Coral Springs on their home court. Dwyer’s defense was dominant, keeping Coral Springs from scoring until there was 3:08 left in the first quarter. But the Panthers’ offense was sputtering, as well.
“At first we were just kind of stuck,” Taylor said. “We were kind of arguing with each other. But we stuck together.”
The Colts got within two points of the Panthers in the second quarter, cutting Dwyer’s lead to 15-13. Then the Panthers turned it on. They went on an 11-1 second-quarter run, providing some separation from the Colts. Dwyer took a 10-point lead into halftime before closing the game out in the third quarter. The Panthers outscored the Colts 21-5 in the third quarter, effectively ending the game with a quarter left to play.
“Foul trouble hurt us early,” Dwyer coach Fred Ross said. “We just couldn’t get a rhythm. We missed a couple of shots, but we also were very poor free-throw shooting. I think we were eight for 16 in the first half, so that didn’t help, either. But again, three starters on the bench. We knew coming into the second half that if they didn’t pick up any more fouls that we had a good chance.”
Dwyer had a balanced offense on Friday, with Taylor, Rodrick Johnson Jr. and Blake Wilson each scoring 11 points. Junior Xavier Scott Jr. added 10 points. Senior Rashod Morris led Coral Springs with 16 points.
The Panthers will face Western or the winner of the Coral Gables-Miami Columbus regional semifinal game in the state semifinals. Western will face the winner of that regional semifinal game on Monday.