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Southland Christian topped North Kissimmee Christian to win the NACA Divison III championship. SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Southland (Flames) Christian School Varsity Basketball team just returned from Dayton, Tenn., after participating in the National Association of Christian Athletes (NACA) Boys Basketball National Championship. Under the guidance of Coaches Alex Rivera, Marlon Brown and Hector “Frank” Torres, the 11-member team, anchored by four seniors played through three elimination games to secure their spot in the finals against North Kissimmee Christian School.
After a 35-12 season, this was the Flames’ first year competing at the National Level, and even though both Southland and North Kissimmee are both located locally in Kissimmee Florida, they are in different conferences so they did not play each other during the regular season. The Southland Flames became the Division III Champions with a 61-48 victory.
The team is comprised of Javier DeJesus, Derek Lopez, David Flores, Anfernee Bonano, Mike Pellot, Isacc Rivera, Edgar Matias, Nayvin Perez, Gabriel Gonzalez, Joel Santana and Antonio Santiago.
DeJesus, Lopez and Perez were named to the All-Tournament Team.
