Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Reynolds is Mr. Clutch
Dillard survives state semis thanks to buzzer-beater
LAKELAND — Dillard senior Ivan Reynolds hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter, which helped keep the Panthers in the game after Lake City Columbia got off to a hot start.
It was a big shot. But he had a bigger one left in him.
Dillard recovered from an early deficit and sent the Class 6A state semifinal to overtime. Down two points, the Panthers held for the last shot at the end of overtime, but the plan went awry.
“I’m not sure what happened; I think there was miscommunication,” Reynolds said. “We messed up, and the ball almost ended up going out of bounds. … I looked up at the clock and I see [Asonaba Bromley] go for it, and it came to me. I realized I had no time to put it down, so I shot.”
The shot fell through the net. The only question was whether Reynolds got the shot off in time.
“That shot at the end of the first overtime was still in his hands,” Columbia coach Steve Faulkner said. “I’m confident of it.
“We kind of knew it was good from the beginning,” Dillard coach Darryl Burrows said. “It looked like it was clean, it was good.”
Whatever the teams and coaches thought, the referees decreed that the shot was good and the game would go to double-overtime. Dillard got the better of Columbia in the second extra period and won 71-66 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, advancing to the Class 6A state championship game.
“Tough game,” Burrows said. “That team is not a team that you can underestimate. They deserve to be here.”
Columbia got a big, early lead over Dillard, taking a 19-6 lead in front of a gym packed with Tigers fans. But the Panthers started clawing their way back, with Reynolds ending the first period with the 3-pointer from half-court.
“That first quarter, they came out and just lit it up,” Burrows said. “We ended up changing our defense. We were sitting in a zone, hoping they wouldn’t hit a whole lot of shots. … We changed and went to the man.”
Once Dillard got back into the game, neither team could gain much of an advantage. The score was tied eight times and there were 10 lead changes.
Columbia got an early lead in the second overtime, but Bromley scored five key points to provide the separation Dillard needed.
“Second overtime, I just said, ‘I’m going to go all out,’” Bromley said. “Just gave it my all.”
Bromley finished the game with seven points. Jalen Haynes led the Panthers with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Reynolds had 15 and Chandler Mack had 12.
Dillard will play Bartow in the Class 6A title game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
The Panthers won to overtime against Tampa Hillsborough in last year’s state semifinals, but they didn’t have a day off between the semifinal and the title game. They fell to Crestview in the championship game the next day.
“At least this year we’ve got that day off,” Burrows said. “Last year, we didn’t. Last year, we had a really tough game against Hillsborough, which was almost identical to our team. And that took a lot out of us to turn right around and play a really good team in Crestview in the finals without taking a day off.
“So hopefully, we can kind of relax a little bit, go over mistakes and then on Saturday, get ready for the final game.”