The Mater Academy boys’ basketball team falls to Mount St. Joseph in Junior OB final
The Mater Academy high school boys’ basketball team, still on the young side, learned another hard lesson Monday night. Sometimes that basketball just won’t go into that little cylinder.
Hoping to become the first boys’ team from South Florida to win a Junior Orange Bowl title since 2011, the Lions fell behind early and never could catch up, dropping a 64-50 decision to Mount St. Joseph from Baltimore in the championship game of the Junior Orange Bowl Basketball Tournament at Palmetto High School.
“I guess we might’ve showed our youth a little bit tonight,” said Mater coach Shakey Rodriguez. “We just couldn’t buy a basket all night and didn’t move the ball well either which didn’t allow us to get the best look at the basket as well. Not a good night for us but a learning night. I told the kids this game doesn’t make us or break us, it just teaches us.”
The win marked the second championship in the past four years for Mount St. Joseph (10-3), which defeated South Miami in 2016 for the title. Hialeah Gardens is the last local boys’ team to win the title. The Gladiators defeated Archbishop Moeller (Ohio) in 2011 and then went on to win the state title two months later.
The Lions (11-3) got plenty of production out of sophomore center Malik Reneau, who scored 23 points (after scoring 34 in a semifinal win over Schoolhouse Prep on Saturday) but that was it.
A team that usually complements their big man with some effective outside shooting from their guards did not get it. The Lions finished 4 of 21 from beyond the arc and were 1 for 16 at one point before three late ones went in after the game had been decided.
Mount St. Joseph took a 32-21 lead to the locker room at halftime and when Reneau hit, who was named to the All Tournament Team along with teammate Micheal Bradley, hit an “and-one” to open the second half, it was 32-24. But the Lions never got any closer than eight points the rest of the way as the Gaels steadily kept their lead between 10 and 15 points.
“When you’re behind the way we were, you need to put a run together to close the gap and we just couldn’t do it,” said Rodriguez.
MIAMI HIGH GIRLS TOP NORLAND
With hopes that they might square off in the championship game, the Miami High and Norland girls’ basketball teams, two of the elite public school programs in Miami-Dade County, had to settle for the third-place consolation game of the Junior Orange Bowl Tournament on Monday afternoon.
If Miami High learned anything from Saturday’s 10 point loss to Palm Beach Lakes in the semifinals, it was avoiding a sluggish, sloppy start. Sure enough, the Lady Stingarees jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead on the Vikings and never trailed all game in route to a 52-40 victory against Norland at Palmetto High School.
Miami High trailed Lakes 41-20 at halftime on Saturday and a furious fourth-quarter rally fell short because they were too far behind.
“We knew we couldn’t do what we did Saturday,” said senior Colleen Bucknor, who just committed to UCF on Nov. 19 and finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds. “We wanted to come out here today with more of a sense of urgency and get a good win and ring in the new year with some momentum.”
The Stingarees (10-3) took a 44-30 lead into the fourth quarter before the Vikings, led by Jaiya Harris-Smith, who led all scorers with 24 points and was named the All-Tournament Team, sliced the lead to 48-40 with two minutes left. But a three-pointer by Willima Nguyen with 1:29 left ended the Norland rally.
Bucknor and teammate Darria Whitley also made the All-Tournament Team but the real prize that she and her teammates have on their mind is a possible state title. Each of the last two years the Stingarees have had to suffer through the pain of getting to the state championship game only to come up short.
“It’s something that drives us for sure,” said Bucknor, whose putback layup at the buzzer two years ago in the final hung on the rim before falling away in a one point loss to Winter Garden West Orange. “But at the same time we understand that there are a lot of games to win between now and Lakeland. You have to focus on one game at a time because if you don’t do that you might not make it back up there.”
OTHER GIRLS’ RESULTS
▪ Championship Game — Vance (N.C.) 80, Palm Beach Lakes 64: The Cougars made the long trip from Charlotte, North Carolina, well worth it as they blew out to a 42-23 halftime lead and captured their first Junior Orange Bowl title. Keishmy Ayuso led the way for Lakes (9-5) with 19 points.
▪ 5th Place — Nova 72, Homestead Keys Gate Charter 51: The Delancy sisters dominated the show for Nova. Trinity Delancy led all scorers in the game with 22 points — including five 3-pointers, and sister Joey scored 15 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Sarei McGill also had a big game with 16 points and six rebounds as Nova (11-3) jumped out to a 37-21 halftime lead and coasted. Rianna Moore and Amari Hunter carried the load for Keys Gate (12-4) with 20 and 19 points, respectively.
OTHER BOYS’ RESULTS
▪ 3rd Place — Mount Lebanon (Pa.) 64, Miami Schoolhouse Prep 55: Schoohouse led 31-26 early in the second half but could not overcome the hot 3-point shooting of Mount Lebanon, which buried seven 3-pointers in the second half. The Wolfpack (5-4) was led by Anthony Lopez Jr., Jose-Luis Benitez and Jimel Cofer Jr. who had 17, 14 and 13 points, respectively.
▪ 5th Place — North Miami 72, Bullitt East (Ky.) 59: The Pioneers blew out to a 33-9 second quarter lead and were never threatened. All but six points were scored by a foursome of players. Carlos Hart led the way with 21 points and seven rebounds, and Ronaldo Vescine and Vee’lesk Avin dropped in 17 and 15, respectively. Joel Mora scored 13 and led all rebounders with 9 as the Pioneers improved to 10-3.
▪ 7th Place — Palmetto 55, Centerville (Ohio) 40: After dropping their first two games playing in their home gym, the Panthers managed to salvage one win in the tournament Monday morning. Jordan Lopez and Joes Aloma led the way for Palmetto (8-7) with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Kentron Poitier got the dirty work done underneath as he pulled down six rebounds while dishing out eight assists.