This is the first game in the Sunshine Series.  Both teams love to get up and down the floor, attack the basket, and have legitimate aspirations for a state title in their respective classes.  Riviera Prep, last season’s 3A champ, is led by junior Dante Allen.  Class 2A Victory Christian gets a ton of production out of a trio of seniors, most noticeably Florida Atlantic signee Lorenzo Cason.

Thok Gol surprised the gym by opening the game with a three for Victory Christian.  Jeremy Jenkins of Riviera Prep responded and then Fernando Romero hit a three for the Bulldogs to give Riviera Prep an early 6-3 lead.  Mike Adino hit a floater to draw Victory to within one but Allen answered with a floater of his own for Riviera Prep.  A bit later, after a three from Tucker Fox of Victory tied the score at 11-11 with 3:19 to go. Riviera Prep ripped off an 8-2 run to lead 19-13 with just under a minute to play.  Cason put back a Victory miss but a three from Matthew Casey pushed the Bulldog margin to eight.  A three by Cason ended the scoring for the first quarter with Riviera Prep on top 22-18.

A three from Andino and a finish in traffic by Cason gave Victory a 23-22 lead with just over a minute gone in the second quarter.  Victory had a one-point lead, 25-24, when Riviera Prep erupted.  From that point until the end of the half, Riviera Prep outscored Victory 19-8.  The Bulldogs’ Jenkins was a big factor in that run, contributing ten points in the form of a three, a three-point play, a transition basket and a bucket inside.  At the half, Riviera Prep was up ten, 43-33.

Allen had a steal and score for Riviera Prep but a mid-range jumper from Victory’s Andino and a tough finish on a drive by Cason got Victory back to within eight, 45-37 with just over five minutes to play in the third.  The Storm of Victory would get to within 48-41 after two free throws by Andino with two minutes remaining in the third but from there Riviera surged ahead.  The Bulldogs closed out the quarter with a 9-2 run with Allen dropping in five of those to lead by double-digits, 57-43, heading into the final period.

Riviera Prep held that type of early in the fourth quarter, leading 64-49 with just under six minutes to play.  Victory made one last run, a 7-0 blitz that got them to within eight, 64-56, with 3:46 to go and with the thirty-five second shot clock in play, it was still a contest.  Riviera Prep put that notion to rest, shutting out the Storm the rest of the way going on a 9-0 run to win somewhat easily, 73-56.

Jenkins led Riviera Prep with 20 points while Allen finished with 17 points and Mason Fuentes tallied 12 points.

For Victory, Andino was the top scorer with 19 points while Cason finished with 14 points.