After Aury Leyva’s first three-pointer, a fan behind the South Miami bench yelled: “He’s back!”

On the Cobras’ next third-quarter possession, the point guard connected on another three-pointer, and the same voice grew louder. Leyva, who had a team-high 14 points, led the host Cobras to a 45-38 win over Miami High in a GMAC quarterfinal Monday night.

“[Leyva] played well,” Cobras coach Robert Doctor said. “I need him to play like that the rest of the year, and we’ll be all right.”

The Cobras (16-8) will play Norland on Tuesday night in a GMAC semifinal at Hialeah Gardens.

Miami High (17-5) was led by reserve Kimbrell Dervil, who had 22 points and four three-pointers, both game highs. But his cold-shooting teammates combined for just 16 points as the Stings squandered a nine-point first-half lead.

After scoring just four points in the first quarter, the Stings went to Dervil. He had 11 of the Stings’ 20 points in the second quarter as Miami High took a 24-17 halftime lead.

But that turned out to be the only good quarter the Stings played. South Miami started the second half on a 6-0 run, keeping its foes scoreless for nearly five minutes. Then came the two three-pointers and a bank shot by Leyva, and the Cobras never trailed again.

WALTER VILLA

MH: Dervil 22, Jimenez 2, Thomas 2, Milo 7, Thompkins 2, Walker 2, Mompremier 1. SM: Leyva 14, Cratit 13, Simmons 11, Chavez 6, Duffus 1. Halftime: MH 24-17; Three-pointers: Dervi 4, Milo 1; Leyva 2, Cratit 1.

• GMAC quarterfinal — Norland 63, Columbus 29: Since his sophomore season, Cleon Roberts was pegged to be one of the better players in Miami-Dade County.

It looks like things have completely clicked for the 6-4 senior guard. Roberts scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the host Vikings to a lopsided victory over Columbus in the GMAC quarterfinals.

Norland (21-2) will play South Miami on Tuesday at Hialeah Gardens in the semifinal round.

Vikings coach Lawton Williams said that Roberts is living up to expectations.

“He’s playing the way I always knew he could,” Williams said. “This is what I expected of him all along.”

Norland opened the game on a 10-0 run, with Roberts making two of his game-high five three-pointers during the surge. The Vikings led 17-5 at the end of the first and stretched that to 44-14 by halftime.

Roberts single-handedly outscored the Explorers in the first half with 16 points. Columbus struggled mightily on the offensive end, being hard pressed to find open shots against Norland’s array of defensive sets. The Explorers shot 5 of 27 from the field in the first half and trailed by as many as 41 in the second half.

Jesus Rodriguez led Columbus with seven points. Norland got 11 points from Dalvin Roberts and 13 points from Malihum McCrea off the bench.

COL: Rodriguez 7, Dan, Ramis 5, Chacon 4, Sasportas 3, Clark 2, Cortino 2, Sawyer 2, Lopez 2, Minervino 1, Dav. Ramis 1, O’Brien 1, Rico 1. NOR (21-2): C. Roberts 22, McCrea 13, D. Roberts 11, Duncan 8, Fils-Aime 3, Williams 2, Peacock 2. Halftime: NOR 44-14. Three-pointers: C. Roberts 5, D. Roberts 3, Fils-Aime, Rodriguez, Chacon. Rebounds: C. Roberts 5. Assists: Fils-Aime 4. Steals: Cooper 2. Blocks: Williams 4.

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