We headed to Somerset Academy in Pembroke Pines on Saturday to take in the I Have A Dream MLK Challenge. Eight games were on tap but time issues forced us to miss the first two. In Game One of the day, Parkland Douglas took down Broward County rival Hollywood McArthur 57-54. In Game Two, Miami Westminster Christian defeated Pine Crest of Fort Lauderdale by ten, 62-52.
Game Three: Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy vs. Ft. Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons
Dubbed “The Battle of the Diocese”, two of Broward’s Catholic institutions took on one another. McCarthy got off to a blazing start, leading 9-0 after the first two minutes. Gibbons eventually got on the board and once they did, the Chiefs quickly assumed control. They turned a 12-8 deficit with three minutes left in the first into a 16-12 advantage to start the second period. Midway thru the quarter Gibbons lead was just two at 21-19. McCarthy was able to regroup and turn the tables in the final four minutes before the break and led 32-28 at intermission.
McCarthy extended its lead to eight at 48-40 midway thru the third. At that point, Gibbons changed things up defensively. By the time the period was over, the margin was cut in half to 55-51. It didn’t take long for Gibbons to resume the lead, scoring the first five points of the fourth in less than two minutes and forcing a McCarthy timeout. McCarthy was able to stay within reach until the clock became their enemy more so than Gibbons. A combination of Gibbons made free throws and McCarthy rushed shots allowed the Chiefs to extend their lead and win double-digits, 75-62.
Sophomore Casey Etienne led Gibbons with 22 points, fifteen of those from the free throw line. Both Daniel Jordan and Johnny Papadakos contributed 16 points while Caleb Alcineus tossed in 13 points.
McCarthy got 19 points from senior Matthew Newland and 17 points from senior Ty Brant. Garnel Severe added 11 points.
Game Four: Coral Springs HS vs. Miami Senior HS
The way the fabled Stingerees started the game, you would have thought that Miami High legends Steve Blake, Udonis Haslem, and all three Edwards brothers had been granted one game of eligibility by the FHSAA and were on the floor. “The High” got out to a 14-2 start in the first four minutes and never let up. The score was 23-4 after the first quarter and the Stings held a thirty-point lead at the break, 50-20. In short, everything Miami did worked and everything Coral Springs did, didin’t,
The third quarter started with a 9-0 Miami High run, which kicked in the running clock. The Stings would win far too easily, 76-36.
Miami was led by Andre Bynum with 16 points. Both Yasmani Torriente and Joshua Middlebrooks each scored 14 points while Kuran Bryant finished with 11 points.
Alex Peirre Louis of Coral Springs led the way with 10 points.
Game Five: Miami Palmetto vs. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas
Palmetto, one of the better teams in both South Florida and Class 7A state-wide came into the game short-handed. Jimel Lane, a 6’6 senior that averages well over twenty points per game and sharpshooter Cooper Josefsberg, were unavailable. At the beginning, Palmetto was able to keep pace and trailed by just one, 9-8, after the first four minutes. However, Palmetto found scoring to be difficult against the Raiders’ size as the quarter went on. After the first eight minutes, St. Thomas led 19-12. In the second quarter, STA increased its lead to double-digits. At the break, they were up twelve, 37-25, and looked very much in control.
In the third quarter, Palmetto got the deficit to nine, 43-34 with 3:30 left in the quarter and looked to be on their way. However, that wasn’t the case. The Raiders finished the third quarter with a 9-4 run to give them 52-38 advantage with one period left to play. Palmetto wasn’t done and using some pressure defense and hitting timely shots worked the margin down to a workable six points, 60-54, with four minutes left in the contest. However, they had spent a lot of energy making the comeback, and were unable to finish the job. St. Thomas regrouped, outscored Palmetto 7-4 the rest of the fourth, and won by the score of 67-58.
Markos Myrtidis led the Raiders with 17 points. Zakiah Saez was just behind with 16 points while both Matthew Cadogan and James Madison each scored 13 points.
Palmetto’s Warner Davis and Anthony Salazar each scored 13 points while Braylon Burbridge finished with 11 points.
Game Six: Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy vs. Miami Lakes Mater Lakes Academy
Surprisingly, this game got off to a very sluggish start as both teams could manage just four points each in the first four minutes. From there, the buckets came fast and furious and by the time the first quarter buzzer sounded, the score was tied at 14-14. In this back and forth contest, Westminster was the first to “blink” and Mater took advantage. They opened up a 29-24 lead with 3:30 to play until the break and didn’t stop there. At the half, Mater’s lead was nine, 37-28.
Westminster switched from zone to man-to-man on the defensive end in the third quarter and it paid off. Slowly, Westminster began to shave points off their deficit and with one minute left in the third quarter, they tied the contest at 47-47. Each team scored two points in that last minute and the game headed into the fourth period tied at 49-49. The teams traded the lead multiple times in the fourth and this looked like a game that could go into OT. However, Antony Knowles, Mater Lakes gifted freshman point guard, fouled out near the midway mark and Mater down four, 59-55. Mater’s offense sputtered and Westminster took advantage to increase their lead. As time wound down, Mater was forced to foul to stop the clock and get the ball back. Westminster proceeded to extend their margin at the foul line to win 78-64.
Westminster got 32 points from uber-freshman Alexander Lloyd. Jaylen Carey, looking like a Ben Wallace doppleganger, finished with 22 points.
Knowles led Mater Lake with 19 points while Christian Reid finished with 13 points.
Game Seven: Davie Western vs. Doral Academy
The play was fast paced to start the game but there wasn’t much scoring to go with it. Western led just 5-2 after the first four minutes and the score was just 10-7 in Western’s favor at the end of the first period. The second quarter found the pace still fast but now both teams were getting something out of it, Doral more so than Western. Doral built a 23-17 lead at the midway point of the period but Western continued to through full court pressure at the Firebirds and it ultimately worked. Western finished the second with a 13-3 run to take a four-point, 30-26 lead into the halftime break.
Doral would stay within striking distance in the third quarter but Western never let loose of their lead. Going into the final period of play, Western led by five, 38-33. Doral continued to creep back into the game and with 1:45 to play, found themselves down just one, 41-40. Western hit a pair of free throws to push the margin to three but Doral answered with a bucket inside to get back to within one with thirty seconds left. Doral had to foul and got what it wanted: a missed front-end of a one-and-one. With little time left on the clock, Justin Johnson of Doral got the ball in the lane and was fouled. He connected on both free throws to give Doral a one point lead with 5.6 seconds left to play. Even after a timeout, Western was unable to get a good look at a game-winner and Doral wins a nailbiter, 44-43.
Johnson led Doral with 24 points.
Landon Boggus of Western led his squad with 14 points.
Game Eight: Pembroke Pines Somerset Academy vs. Miami Kilian
Killian came in with only seven players dressed. Somerset had at least twice that many fresh and ready to go. After the first four minutes the score was tied at nine as each team relied on the three-ball to get points. From there, the well went dry and only Somerset scored a basket in the final four minutes of the first to lead 11-9. The shots kept flying and some even fell in the second quarter. Killian found its shooting touch and at the break, led by five, 25-20.
Despite its small numbers, Killian continued to not only hold off Somerset but grow its lead in the third quarter. The score was 44-32 in favor of Killian with one quarter left to play. Somerset was clearly rattled and couldn’t get their shots to fall, usually going one and out on their offensive end of the floor. Killian continued to make perimeter shots or get 6’6 senior Jerome Wallace free inside for scores. In the end, fewer was more as Killian rolled to a 58-43 win.
Killian was led by Gabriel Chung with 25 points while James Morman added 10 points.
Tristan Arneaud paced Somerset with 15 points while David Delancey connected for 12 points.