Kowboys host Lake Worth Friday with Final 4 berth on the line
Sean Combs’s teardrop shot from inside the paint gave Osceola the lead with 31 seconds remaining and his two free throws later cemented the win as the Kowboys recorded a hard-fought 49-45 win over Wellington in a Class 7A, Region 3 semifinal Tuesday.
The win means second-seeded Osceola (20-5) will host Lake Worth (20-3), seeded fifth in the region, on Friday at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Final Four in Lakeland next Friday.
“It was an incredibly physical, taxing game where it seems both teams contested every possession and every shot,” Osceola Coach Steve Mason said. “Still, it was the type of game we had to play in order to have a chance to win. Wellington is such a mirror image of our club and I was just so incredibly proud of how hard to fought for the entire game.”
The contest featured 13 lead changes and eight ties, with no team leading by more than four points. Osceola would take a 12-11 lead after one period behind five points from Combs and would take a 20-18 advantage into the locker room at the half.
That lead was helped by the fact that Wellington missed seven free throws in the first half – including the front ends of three one-and-ones.
It was the disparity in foul calls in the second half caused Osceola to switch up its game plan. Although the Kowboys had three more field goals then their opponents in the period, Wellington hit five of six from the line and the game was tied at 32-32 after three. Osceola had several players in foul trouble, which resulted in Mason putting both Cory Vega and Jamarion McCrimon on the floor at the same time for much of the third period and part of the fourth.
“We have basically played four guards and one big all season, but we picked up some early foul trouble and they were beating us down low. Jamarion came in and gave us some tough minutes.”
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair. Back-to-back threes from Sean and Chris Combs resulted in a 43-40 lead, but Wilmington’s Brendan Williams hit one from the top of the key to tie it with 1:52 remaining. A Vega layup off a nifty pass from Victor Guzman put Osceola back-on-top but Williams was fouled on a drive and made both shots to knot it up with 1:04 left.
The Kowboys would work the ball around – taking about 30 seconds off the clock – before Sean Combs drove the lane and put a high, arching shot over the 6’7” Terell Edwards for the go ahead bucket.
The Osceola defense would then force a turnover under the Wellington basket with 16.8 seconds remaining – setting up a bizarre finish. With only two team fouls, the Wolves would foul Osceola five consecutive times to put the Kowboys on the line. With just 5.1 seconds remaining, Sean Combs made both ends of the ensuing one-and-one to put the contest away.
“It’s funny how this crazy game plays out sometimes. I was a little upset at the big disparity between the fouls called on us and the fouls on them, but in the end – it helped us win the game,” Mason said. “It took more than 11 seconds off the game clock for them to foul us five times and that really shortened the game. I was sort of surprised they didn’t try for the trap and steal rather than go for the quick fouls, but it certainly worked to our advantage.”
Sean Combs led all Osceola players with 21 points. Chris Combs added eight and Guzman had six. But it was the play of its defense, including Tyler Newsome, which made the real difference -- the Kowboys forced 18 turnovers.
“Tyler is the type of guy that will usually score you a sometimes quiet six points a game, but he always plays tremendous defense,” Mason said. “Tonight we gave him a tough assignment on Williams – who is a terrific ball player – and he did a great job of making him work for everything.”
Mason added that the win was especially gratifying, given how the Wolves beat Osceola by 37 points earlier this season. “We were without a couple of starters and it was the worst loss of the season for us,” he said. “But trust me, our kids remember that beat down and wanted to atone for it.”
