Panthers win 7th straight with 4th-quarter rally against Harmony
Chris and Sean Combs combined for 23 points as the Osceola Kowboys (10-4) wrapped up another Orange Belt Conference Championship Friday with a 55-25 win over Poinciana on Friday night.
The win pushed Osceola to 6-0 in conference play with just one OBC game remaining against St. Cloud next Friday night. Every other county team now has at least two conference losses.
“To tell the truth, I was a little bit concerned heading into this game,” Kowboys Coach Steve Mason said. “It was our third game in four days and we got pretty beat up against Winter Haven (an 81-57 loss Thursday). We didn’t get home until close to midnight and I was afraid we wouldn’t have our legs underneath us.”
Osceola did start out slow, as center Corey Vega picked up two quick fouls and the Kowboys shooting went cold. Despite a pair of threes from Ryan Rivera, the Kowboys managed just 12 points in the period. But the Osceola defense gave up just two field goals as the Kowboys led 12-5.
The Kowboys would put the game away in the second quarter. Chris Combs scored nine points in the period and Sean Combs added five as Osceola out-scored Poinciana 22-2 and grabbed a 34-7 lead at the half.
“After the slow start, I think our crowd really got us back in the game,” Mason said. “Chris knocked down a couple of big shots and Sean hit that three-pointer at the buzzer and we ended half on a high note.”
The big lead allowed Mason to empty his bench in the second half, allowing several reserves to get significant playing time.
Sean Combs led all Kowboys with 12 points, Chris Combs and Chris Rios had 11 each. Despite limited play, Corey Vega grabbed 11 rebounds. Jamarion McCrimmon had six rebounds and came up with three blocks.
“At this point in the season, I would say Corey has been our most consistent player,” Mason said. “Every night he faces players that our six of seven inches taller than him and he continues to hold his own against him with just pure desire and hustle.”
Isaiah Hernandez led the Eagles (5-8) with 10 points, eight rebounds and a block. Justin Wilson added six for Poinciana.
Including a road game against Colonial (8-3) on Monday and next Friday’s OBC finale with St. Cloud on Friday, the Kowboys have 10 regular season games left before the start of the post-season. Mason added his team has yet to reach its potential.
“All season we have forced a ton of turnovers and then fail to convert a good percentage of them into points at the other end,” he said. “We have to start doing a better job on the offensive end when we get those opportunities.”
In the preliminary, Osceola’s Junior Varsity team went to 11-0 on the season with a 73-24 win over Poinciana. The junior Kowboys have now outscored the opposition 777-359 on the season and have been so dominant that seven of their 11 games went to a running clock under FHSAA mercy rules.
Panthers win 7th straight with 4th-quarter rally against Harmony: It was anything but easy as Harmony gave them all they wanted, but Gateway came away with their seventh consecutive boys basketball win on the season Thursday night -- pulling away at the end for a 62-58 victory.
The win moved the Panthers to 13-4 on the season and set up a key matchup at 12-2 Apopka today at 5 p.m. Harmony fell to 6-7 on the season and will play at St. Cloud (2-11) on Friday.
“It was really a combination of several things. For some reason I thought we came out really flat tonight and then we got some kids in foul trouble early,” Coach Travis James said. “But that was only part of the equation. Harmony came out with a great game plan and executed it. They really did a great job of plugging up the middle and forcing some turnovers and bad shots when we tried to attack the lane.”
Harmony would jump out to an 11-3 lead in the game before Gateway went on a 9-0 run to take a 12-11 lead after one quarter. Longhorn guard Rafael Balines would score nine points in the second and Caden Scarborough came up with a couple of big blocks as Harmony forged back to lead at the half, 28-24.
Gateway would take its biggest lead of the game at 48-44 on a 3-ball by Jeremy Valdez at 4:53 mark of the third; but Harmony again would fight back behind the play of Balines and Anthony White. Balines would score 11 in the quarter and White would have five rebounds, a block and a steal in the quarter as the Panthers trailed by just one at the end of three, 44-43.
The teams would battle to stalemate for the first part of the fourth period, before Scarborough picked up his fifth foul and was disqualified at the 5:49 mark of the period. With the 6-6 junior out of the game, it would open the lane for Jordan Birmingham who would score 10 points inside the lane after Scarborough picked up his fifth foul.
Still, the Longhorns would not fold. Scrappy efforts by Balines and Dallin Richardson kept them in the game, and when Richardson made a stick back layup off his own offensive rebound, Harmony cut the lead to 61-58 with just one a minute to play.
After getting a stop on the ensuing Gateway possession, Richardson’s game-tying three-point attempt with 24 seconds left bounced off the rim. After missing the front end of a one-and-one, Harmony would have one more chance to tie, but Gateway intercepted a pass and Robert Collins hit the second of two foul shots to put the game away.
“Really proud of these guys and their effort they put forward tonight. We battled for 32 minutes and just fell a little short,” Harmony Coach Duke Leonardo said. “Our foul trouble was a factor and ended up hurting us in the end, but again our kids fought all the way to the end.”
Balines led all scorers with 24 points.
“He’s been an absolute stud for us this season,” Leonardo added. “When we got three starters in foul trouble early, he just put the team on his back.”
Scarborough had seven points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals before fouling out; while White finished 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
Birmingham led a balanced Gateway attack with 22 points; while Jeremy Valdez added 14 and Dimas Cervante had 12.
But it was at the foul line where the Panthers actually won the game. Gateway made 20 of 23 at the foul line. “It was pretty ironic, because we struggled a little at the line this year,” James noted. “By far and without question it was the best effort all season.”
With the win streak at seven, James did say today's game with the Blue Darters would be a huge challenge.
“They are really a solid team playing at a high level,” James added. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now, but we are definitely about to take a step up in competition on Saturday.”
