For three quarters Friday, it looked like the Osceola High School basketball team was headed back to the Final Four for the fourth time in seven years.
Unfortunately, games last four quarters.
After taking a 55-53 lead, the Kowboys saw Lake Worth go on a 20-0 run to start the fourth quarter and cruise to a 75-57 win in the Class 7A, Region 3 Final. The loss ended the Kowboys’ season at 20-6; while Lake Worth (21-3) now moves on to face Miami Columbus in a state semifinal Friday.
“Forget the fourth quarter, we really lost this game in the first three periods, when we gave up way too many points on second-chance offensive rebounds,” Osceola coach Steve Mason said. “That said, the fourth period was just one of those things. We rimmed out a couple of threes to start the period and they hit some shots, got momentum and then it just snowballed from there. Heading into the game, I had a fear their point guard (Calvin Simmons) could take over a game and that’s exactly what he did in the second half.”
Simmons scored 14 of his 20 points and dished out six assists after intermission.
But it was also the play of Trojans’ big man Marvin Golf that Osceola had no real answer for. Golf, who was averaging 14 points and seven rebounds per game, scored 27 points on the night to go with 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. Ten of his 14 first half points came off his own offensive rebounds.
“We have played a bunch of teams this year that had significant height advantages, but this is the first time I think it really bothered us and tell the truth that surprised me,” Mason said. “He (Golf) was just a beast tonight.”
Lake Worth jumped out to a 24-21 first-quarter lead, but the Kowboys would battle back behind eight second quarter points from Sean Combs to forge a 36-36 tie at intermission.
The Kowboys pulled away briefly in the third period when Cory Vega hit a three-pointer to give Osceola a 44-38 lead at the 3:35 mark. But Simmons and Jerry Ortiz would bury three-pointers and Lake Worth would go on a 15-9 run to end the period to close to within two, 55-53.
With Osceola struggling from the field, Golf dominated the final quarter from inside the paint. He scored seven points, had four rebounds and three blocks in the period. Osceola scored their first and only basket in the period on a Vic Guzman jumper with just 1:24 remaining in the game.
Sean Combs finished the game with a team-leading 17 points, Chris Combs and Ryan Rivera had nine. Jamarion McCrimon had six points and five rebounds, Vega had five with six boards before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.
“This was not an easy game for us,” Lake Worth Coach Frank Baxley said. “Osceola has a championship pedigree, some really athletic players and they are very well coached. They aren’t used to losing games like this, but we’re not either. I think our ability to stop their dribble penetration in the fourth quarter was the key to the win.”
Osceola finishes the season with a 20-win season, both Orange Belt Conference and district championships, and two wins in the regionals, and that’s something Mason says the team should take some pride in.
“I told them after the game that they should take this as an important lesson. You can work extremely hard, do all the preparations and sometimes things just don’t work out.”
He also added that he will always remember this team for one main reason.
“In the beginning, this was not the easiest team to coach. We had a lot of different personalities and a lot of different agendas. But as the year progressed, this team really came together. They played together and no one cared who got the credit as long as we won. At the end of the day, this team played extremely hard in every game and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
Osceola loses five seniors, including starters Chris Combs, Tyler Newsome and Vega. But they also return five major contributors – including leading scorer Sean Combs. Osceola will also have five rising sophomores stepping up from the junior varsity that recorded a 19-0 record.
