City of Life wins, too; Region No. 1 Oak Ridge too much for St. Cloud
Osceola used a smothering defense to force 19 turnovers and eliminate Sarasota Riverview from the Region 7A-3 playoffs with a 90-52 victory Saturday. The win gives the Kowboys another home playoff game next Saturday.
Osceola will host Tampa Plant on Nate Alexander Court in a rematch of last year’s regional semifinal, won by Osceola, 72-65. Kowboys head coach Steve Mason says he expects another tight game with the Panthers.
“They were very similar to us last year,” the veteran coach said. “They were a junior dominated team, and those guys are now seniors and I am sure will be looking for revenge. They are talented, physical and well-coached.”
Mason will definitely feel better about that game if his team gives the same effort and energy as Saturday. Osceola (22-5) shot the ball extremely well (50.8%), hitting 30 of 59 attempts. Using a pressure defense, the Kowboys converted many of those turnovers into easy layups.
Sarasota made a game of it in the first quarter. Although Jordan Mason and Luke McCrimon scored eight points each, Sarasota’s Josh Harris was red hot – hitting for 14 of his game-high 31 points in the period as Riverview kept within three at 21-18. Harris at one point hit five straight shots.
“It may not have looked like it early, but we knew he was a great player and we knew we had to game plan against him,” Mason said. “He still had a great game but we kept him in check in the second and third periods when the game was decided.”
After that initial spurt by Brooks, the Kowboys dominated the rest of the way. McCrimon scored nine in the period, Mason had three assists and Jahmel Hill added five as Osceola outscored Riverview 21-7 in the period to take a 42-25 lead at intermission.
The onslaught continued in the third. McCrimon and Mason combined for 19 in the quarter when Osceola scored 30 and pushed the lead to 72-41. When Mason hit a rainbow three from the top of the key with 5:08 remaining to force a running clock, when Coach Mason called timeout and emptied his bench.
Mason led all scorers with 27, McCrimon kicked in 26 and Hill added 15. Ryan Rodriguez just missed giving the Kowboys four in double figures with eight.
Osceola was not the only county boys’ team in action on Saturday. St. Cloud (22-6) saw its season come to an end on the road – losing a 102-61 decision to Oak Ridge – the top seed in Region 2. The score was not as bad as it seemed, as the Bulldogs cut the lead to 15 late in the second half.
“We were in a hole and it was a long shot but we kept fighting, unfortunately when we got within 15, we had a couple of turnovers. They pushed it back to and sort of stream-rolled us from there,” St. Cloud coach Tommy Billiteri said. “But all things considered this was a great season for our seniors and our program. We won 20 again, got that first district title in half a century and represented the school well. Elias Torres and Diomar Ortiz, who were four-year starters, leave as the most decorated senior class in school history. They helped change the culture of our program and hopefully winning basketball will become the norm here.”
City of Life Christian Academy (22-6) will be advancing in the Class 1A, Region 3 tournament with a convincing 71-33 win over Canterbury. The Warriors were led by Carter Campbell’s 34 points (10 of 16 from three-point range). Jahkeema King added 15 and 11 rebounds. COLCA will host Donahue (22-6) next Saturday at 7 p.m. as they attempt to reach the regional finals for the first time in school history.
