Osceola used 21 third-quarter points from Luke McCrimon and Jordan Isaac to overcome a halftime deficit and capture the District 7A-9 boys basketball championship with a 76-61 win over Poinciana Thursday.
The win likely keeps the Kowboys (23-3) as the No. 1 seed in Region 3, ensuring home court advantage through the playoffs, which start Wednesday.
“This was an incredibly important win for us,” Osceola coach Steve Mason said of his team that extended its winning streak five games and won its eighth district title in the last 11 years.
“After an 18-1 start, we lost back-to-back games late in January and I think it really served as a wake-up call to this team. You never like to lose, but sometimes losses can be helpful. By winning districts, we should hold on the top seed in the region, which would keep us at home and that was our main goal.”
Things did not start off great for the Kowboys. The Eagles’ Savion Viser scored 11 first quarter points and Poinciana used some excellent ball movement and shot selection, as well as some key rebounding, to take a 21-18 lead after one. The Eagles (16-10) led by as many as seven points through most of the second quarter as Jahmel Hill and Adriel Marin each scored six points in the period.
But McCrimon and Helio Quinan each hit big threes and Isaac had six in the quarter as the Kowboys reduced the deficit to just one at half, 37-36.
“Give Coach K (Eagles coach Ramesses Khalfani) and Poinciana a ton of credit,” Mason noted. “They gave us fits when we played them in the regular season (a 50-47 win for Osceola). They have a lot of talent and they always play hard. We knew we were in for a game.”
Isaac and McCrimon, who scored his 1000th career point Thursday, lit up the third quarter with a couple of three-balls. He scored 12 in the quarter, despite taking a serious fall under the basket. His three-pointer at 7:20 mark keyed a 5-2 run as Osceola took its first lead since early in the first quarter. While those two were carrying the load offensively, Osceola’s defense limited Poinciana to just nine points in the period.
“I told the guys at halftime that we needed to ramp up our defensive effort,” Mason said. “We went to a man-to-man defense and they really got after it.”
Leading by 15 after three, Osceola broke Poinciana’s press several times early in the fourth quarter – leading to several easy baskets as they extended the lead to as many as 23. Isaac added six in the final stanza to finish with a game-high 32 points; McCrimon added five to finish with 26.
“I really like the way we are playing right now,” Mason added. “We have five different guys who could be our leading scorer on any given night. They play unselfish basketball and look for the open guy. If we can keep executing that style and play with the same intensity, we have a chance to make a run to states.”
Poinciana, who got 12 points each from Kobe Brown and Viser, may also be playing next week. Heading into districts, they were ranked No. 7 in Region 3. If they stay in the top eight when final seedings are announced Saturday, they would qualify for as an at-large team. Ironically -- if they finish eighth - it could setup a rematch with Osceola in the first round.
“Obviously we’re happy with where we are sitting, but to tell the truth, I would prefer not to see Poinciana in the first round,” Mason added. “There’s an old saying that styles make fights and they seem to match up pretty good against us.”
