The Sunshine Independent Athletic Association (SIAA) held their state tournament this past weekend at Daytona State College. While there are multiple levels of competition in the SIAA, we focused on the National Division, the highest level.
Friday’s semi-finals were tightly contested games that came down to the wire. DME Academy out of Daytona, playing without McDonald’s All American and Louisville signee Mikel Brown, survived an overtime contest to defeat the Academy of Central Florida out of Orlando. In the other semi-final, top-seed Orlando West Oaks, undefeated in league play, gave up a last second bucket to neighboring Southeastern Prep Academy to fall by a single point.
Each team came up empty on their respective first possession of the game. Chris Kitenge, a 6’5 senior, got DME on the board first with a three-pointer. That was the start of an 8-0 run as 6’0 junior Nate Kirk scored on a drive and 6’6 senior Matas Buteliauskas knocked down a three, forcing a SE Prep timeout with just over seven minutes left in the period. SE Prep finally got on the board after the break with a bucket inside from 6’8 senior Chris Lindo. DME scored again, but SE Prep got a three from 5’7 junior Hazzan Efford and a putback from Lindo to get to within 10-7 with 5:33 left in the first. DME then fastened together a 9-2 run over the next three minutes, highlighted by another Kitenge three, to go up 19-10. Each team scored five points apiece for the rest of the period which saw DME up by nine, 24-15.
DME opened up the second period with a 6-0 run as 6’4 senior Jordan Ford had a steal and score, 6’8 senior Trey Simpson added a pair of free throws and Kirk hit a floater in the lane. After just two minutes of play, DME had doubled up SE Prep 30-15. A three from SE Prep’s 6’4 senior Isaiah Smith and a steal and score from 6’4 senior Montez Simmons got the Falcons back to within ten points at 30-20. Kitenge connected on his second three of the half for DME but that was answered by a three from Simmons and a transition basket from 5’10 freshman Camryn Lee to cut the margin to single digits, 33-25, with just over four minutes left in the half. A three from Buteliauskas pushed the DME lead back to double digits. A SE Prep putback and bucket inside were sandwiched around a DME free throw and with just over two minutes left to play in the period DME was up eight, 37-29. SE Prep couldn’t sustain their momentum to make the margin any closer and DME took advantage, finishing the final two minutes with a 7-1 run, the last a putback by 6’11 Sr Heri Bukinga to make it a fourteen-point game at the half, 44-30.
The teams scored offsetting two-point baskets to start the third quarter. DME got a 5-0 spurt behind a Kirk drive and score and a three from Simpson. That made it a nineteen-point game, 51-32, with just under five minutes to play in the period. SE Prep hit a free throw but DME hit another three to widen their lead. SE Prep got to within 59-41 with twenty seconds left in the third but Bukinga completed a three-point play with just two seconds left on the clock to make the score 62-41 with one quarter left to play.
SE Prep extended their defense at the start of the fourth period and it paid off quickly. A 12-6 run over the first four plus minutes of the quarter, four of those coming from Lee, got SE Prep to within 68-53 and with a thirty second shot clock, anything could happen. DME continued to hold off SE Prep and keep their advantage in double-digits. SE Prep had one last run left in them with Lee scoring nine points to cut the margin to just eleven points, 75-64, with 1:35 remaining. However, that would be a close as the Falcons would get. DME would close out the game at the free throw line, going four for six to win the title by the final score of 79-64.
Kirk was named MVP of the tournament with a game high 25 points. Buteliauskas hit four threes for 12 points, and Kitenge added 11 points.
For Southeastern Prep, Lee led the way with 15 points while 6’4 junior Rylan Kelly followed with 9 points.