Calvary nails down top seed in district

DAVIE — Second-ranked Calvary Christian fought back from a 4-point, fourth-quarter deficit to take down No. 5 University School 55-48 and clinch the regular-season District 14-5A championship Friday night.

The victory sends Calvary to 15-3 overall and 5-0 in the district. The loss drops University School to 13-6 and 3-1. The Sharks still have to play Cardinal Gibbons; the winner gets the No. 2 seed, the loser the No. 3.

“Aw, man, this feels great,” said senior guard Jerald Butler, who led Calvary in scoring. “This is the first time I feel like we played as a team throughout the whole game. The bench was into it, we were into it, the fans were into it. This is our best game that we’ve won this season.”

Butler, who has signed with Butler University, scored 17 points. Southern California 7-foot signee Victor Uyaelunmo added 14 points for Calvary, and 2018 standout Solomon Uyaelunmo also had 14 points.

Solomon Uyaelunmo held University School 6-9 power forward Vernon Carey Jr. — one of the top players in the nation in the 2019 class — to 5 points. He was held scoreless in the first half. Highly touted U-School 7-1 sophomore center Balsa Koprivica had just 4 points.

“He is a really good player,” Solomon Uyaelunmo said of Carey. “I just tried to keep my body on him and not let him get comfortable in the paint.”

“He held Vernon to 5 points on his home floor,” Calvary coach Cilk McSweeney said. “He had a late 3. People forget about Solomon. He is an awesome defender.”

The game was tied 11-11 after one quarter. Calvary was able to secure a 25-22 lead, but it was still a oneshot game at the half.

In the third quarter, Calvary went on a run to jump to the first double-digit lead of the game, 34-24, with 3:50 left in the period. But right back came U-School. The Sharks scored 10 unanswered points to tie it 34-all on a basket by Kenny McIntosh.

In the fourth period, University School went up four, 44-40, on a 3-pointer from Carey. But Calvary ended the game with a 15-4 run to take the district title.

“Three and a half minutes left, we had a 44-40 lead,” U-School coach Adrian Sosa said. “We missed three free throws. We settled for way too many jump shots, and they were aggressive.”

“Defense wins championships,” McSweeney said. “It wins games. I am just happy we were able to pull through.”

College coaches from UAB, Middle Tennessee, Nova Southeastern and Miami Dade, among others, were in attendance to watch the impressive talent.