Second-half surge propels Pembroke Pines Charter to BCAA Big 8 boys basketball title

Never mind the fact that when his team emerged from the halftime locker room so late they didn’t have time to even warm up.

Pines Charter boys basketball coach Dave Roca had more important things to address – like how his team wasn’t playing with the intensity and discipline he has come to expect all season long.

“I wasn’t as worried about us getting warmed up as I was about getting my message across,” Roca said. “Sometimes we need to sit down and understand what’s going on out there rather than just getting back on the court to warm up. We wanted to used the extra time to set up a disciplined plan of attack in the second half our kids followed up with the plan.”

That was all the spark they needed as the Jaguars, the defending Class 6A state champions and No. 1 ranked team in Class 6A this season, pulled away to a 74-59 victory over Dillard in the championship game of the BCAA Big 8 Tournament on Saturday night at Fort Lauderdale High School.

The BCAA title was the second in the last three years for Pines Charter and prevented Dillard from winning its eighth title overall and first since 2017.

After Dillard freshman Dwayne Wimbley lit up the Jaguars with four rainbow three-pointers and scored 16 points to stake the Panthers to a 39-33 lead at the break, Pines Charter went on a 15-2 run to open the second half.

“What happened (in the first half) was our press offense initially wasn’t effective and we were sitting back too much,” Roca said. “We really wanted to get up under them and make them uncomfortable from the start and that didn’t happen so at halftime we had a good strong healthy conversation with our guys letting them know what we wanted to see and they came out and executed.”

Led by seniors Elijah Wyche, Geoffrey Sprouse and Kolby King, who scored 19, 18 and 15 points respectively, the Jaguars (21-3), ranked No. 9 overall in the state regardless of classification, used the run to take a 56-51 lead to the fourth quarter.

Dillard (12-10) pulled to within 61-58 with three minutes left before King scored underneath on a putback bucket which was followed by a steal and a three pointer by Sprouse (his fourth of the night) to boost the lead to 66-58 with 2:20 left. Dillard was never closer than seven after that. Wimbley cooled off in the second half but still led all scorers in the game with 21 points.

“Coach told us both teams weren’t playing enough defense and the team that came out and played the best defense in the second half was the team that was going to win and I guess that’s what happened,” Wyche said. “All of our players, we just trust in one another and when you just trust all of your teammates, everything just flows so easily and usually just works out in the end and that’s what happened tonight.”

King, a St. Johns commit, had nine of his 16 points in the second and had one of nine Jaguars three pointers on the night.

“We had to pick up the energy, came out slacking on defense and it was a matter of picking up our intensity and pressure,” King said. “It feels great to get this tonight but we know having won state last year and knowing this is my last year, we want to try and get another one. But at the same time, we know how hard it’s going to be because it’s going to be a tough road.”

King is right about that as Pines Charter probably hasn’t seen the last of Dillard. The two teams reside in the same district along with St. Thomas Aquinas and could meet not only in next week’s district final but the regional playoffs as well.

“We’re humbled and honored to be city champions for the second time in three years and this gives us plenty of momentum going forward,” Roca said. “But at the same time, what’s scary is we might to have to face this team (Dillard) two more times and we’re also in a district where four of the eight teams that played in this tournament (Aquinas and Boyd Anderson) are in the same district. Next week (Dillard is hosting the District 14-6A tournament) will be another challenge.”

DIL (12-10): Wimbley 21, Hopkinson 14, Kee 11, Lovett 6, Karvoski 5, Snell 2; PC (21-3): Wyche 19, Sprouse 18, King 15, Ethridge 14, Elkamel 4, Williams 4; HALF: DIL 39-33.

This story was originally published February 5, 2022 at 9:29 PM.