Osceola uses big 4th quarter to beat Central, 67-51; Gateway falls to top-seeded Jones in Class 5A quarterfinal
As the second seed in Region 3, Osceola (19-5) will host Wellington on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in a Class 7A playoff game.
The Wolverines (22-6) beat Osceola earlier this year during a Holiday Tournament in Vero Beach, 70-33. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Centennial/Lake Worth game for a regional championship and a trip to the state Final Four, what would be OHS' third in six years.
A win Tuesday would be the Kowboys' fourth trip to the regional finals in that same span.
In Thursday's playoff opener, Center Cory Vega keyed a 17-0 Osceola run with a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter, as the Kowboys advanced in the Class 7A Region 3 with a 67-51 quarterfinal win over Fort Pierce Central
Thursday.
But in Orlando, Gateway's season ended with a 63-50 loss to Jones in a Class 5A game.
Central trailed most of the game rallied and closed the gap to 39-37 at the end of three quarters. Aaron McLeod hit a short jumper to start the fourth quarter to tie the game at 39-39. But Vega’s three-pointer ignited a rally where Osceola would end up scoring another 14 unanswered points to push the lead to 56-39 with 4:30 left.
“It was typical Cory,” Coach Steve Mason said. “Whenever we need to reverse the momentum or need a big play, he always seems to come through for us.
But the Kowboys had plenty of additional fourth quarter help in the game. In addition to Vega’s eight points, Chris Combs scored 11 and Chris Rios added five as the Kowboys outscored the Cobras, 28-14 in the period.
In the beginning, it did not look like Osceola would need any fourth quarter theatrics. Using a pressing defense, the Kowboys forced 10 first quarter turnovers and Sean Combs scored 11 points as Osceola built a 22-10 lead after one. Osceola went a little cold in the second stanza, but still managed to nine point lead into the locker room at the half, 39-30.
The third quarter would belong to the Cobras. Freshman Christian Maxon hit a couple of three pointers and 6-8 center Travis King began to insert himself in the paint. When Joshua Williams hit a layup at the 1:32 mark, Central had its first lead of the game at 36-35. A Sean Combs layup put Osceola back on top and two free throws from Chris Rios extended the lead to 39-36 before King hit one of two free throws to make it a two-point game after three, 39-37.
“Give Fort Pierce some credit for getting back into the game. They are a good basketball team but we sort of fell in love with trying to make three-pointers in the middle of the game and those shots stopped falling for us,” Mason said. “At the end of the third, I just told the guys that we had to go back to the way we were playing in the first quarter. Drive to the basket and get some layups. After Cory hit that three-pointer, we started attacking the paint, which led to us getting some easier shots.”
Osceola countered their taller opponents with a combination of speed and ball movement. The Kowboys forced 23 turnovers.
“We created some turnovers but it was our passing and ball movement that won the game for us,” Mason said. “What I love about this team is they have embraced the idea of not caring who gets the most points on a given night. When the game was on the line, we did a great job of finding the open guy.”
The Combs brothers combined for 40 points – including a game-high 23 by Sean. Vega finished with 10 and seven rebounds and Tyler Newsome added six. King (11) and Bahman (10) led Ft. Pierce (20-9) in scoring.
As the second seed, Osceola (19-5) assured itself of one more home game this season. They will host Wellington on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Wolverines (22-6) beat Osceola earlier this year during a Holiday Tournament in Vero Beach, 70-33. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Centennial/Lake Worth game for a regional championship and a trip to the state Final Four.
Gateway (18-9) took a double-digit first-half lead against Jones before the top-seeded Tigers rallied.
“We were right there all night. We were only down by four points at the start of the fourth quarter, but they hit some big 3s and went on a pretty good run,” Gateway coach Travis James said. “Our kids played really hard and put up a great fight.”
James added that he enjoyed the season that saw his team go undefeated in a couple of tournaments
and win 18 games. “It’s just sad it ended this way but it was an enjoyable season to coach as our players
came together and worked hard all season.”
Dimas Cervantes led the Panthers in scoring against Jones with 14, Gabe Melendez and Robert Collins had 12 each. Gateway is scheduled to return four of its top five scorers next season.
