Miami Norland earns chance to end regional finals skid after defeating Northeast
In the end his players perhaps made it a little tougher on themselves then they had to.
But longtime Miami Norland boys’ basketball coach Lawton Williams III has a saying around this time of year.
“It’s all about having practice tomorrow,” Williams said. “And guess what, we’ve got practice tomorrow.”
The Vikings have practice despite seeing a big 17-point lead late in the third quarter shrink to five with just over five minutes left. Norland kept its poise down the stretch, made its free throws in the final minutes and hung on for a 60-50 victory over Oakland Park Northeast in a Region 4-5A semifinal Tuesday night at its home gym.
The win advances the No. 1-seeded Vikings (18-10) to their fourth consecutive regional final on Friday where they will host No. 3 seed Rockledge at 7 p.m.
Williams and his players can only hope that the experience of frustrating losses in each of those previous regional finals (last year to Belen Jesuit, Stranahan in 2022 and Pembroke Pines Charter in 2021) will be the onus to carry them to victory on Friday and punch their first ticket to the state final four in Lakeland since they won their last of four consecutive state titles in 2015.
As he has all season long, Williams leaned on his two star seniors, guard Triston Wilson and power forward Marcus Allen to help carry the Vikings through and they did just that.
Wilson led all scorers in the game with 17 points (10 in the second half) while Allen, who was below his scoring average with just 11 points, got it done under the boards, pulling down 12 rebounds.
“Coach said before the game that rebounding was going to be a big factor to win tonight,” said Allen, a Missouri commit. “So if that means I only have 11 points but pull down 12 rebounds, then I’ll take that every time because that means we’re probably going to win. Whatever it takes.”
Allen scored 9 of his 11 points in the first half and led the charge right before halftime when the Vikings went on an 11-2 run to close out the half and take a 31-20 lead to the locker room at the break.
The Vikings continued to play suffocating defense in the third quarter and when Caleb Clarke buried a three-ball from the corner with 1:45 left in the third, Norland enjoyed its biggest lead at 39-22.
But that’s when the Joseph brothers, Landen and Chandler, caught fire for the Hurricanes (18-11) as they dropped three three-pointers to lead Northeast on a 16-4 run to cut the deficit to 43-38 with 5:28 left.
“Everyday we practice late-game situations, up five, down five and all kinds of scenarios,” said Wilson, a Presbyterian (S.C.) commit who also had seven rebounds and four assists. “So basically coach has prepared us for all these kinds of situations. It was just a matter of staying poised and we were ready for it.”
Both teams started trading baskets at that point but Zo Bennett’s three point bomb from the corner cut it back down to 53-47 with 1:09 to play.
But Northeast, which was attempting to advance to only its second regional final in the last 40 years, had to start fouling at this point and the Vikings made 7 of the 8 free throws they attempted to secure the win.
“We were up 17 and didn’t finish it,” Williams said. “That’s what we’ve been doing lately, not finishing games the way I want to. But at the end of the day, like I said. we’ve got practice tomorrow and when you’re in the postseason, that’s what you have to have.”
As far as another shot at making it to the final four and hoping that the “fourth” time is a charm, Allen is ready and excited.
“We’ve faced this challenge for the last three years,” he said. “The first two years we were kind of young and last year things just didn’t fall our way but Friday night will be big because I think maybe this is our time. I think we’re ready to break through which would be huge because this is my last chance.”
MORE SCORES
Region 4-7A semifinals: Columbus 76, Western 41; Miami High 62, Coral Springs 51
Region 4-6A semifinal: St. Thomas Aquinas 57, Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer 27; Pembroke Pines Charter 67, South Plantation 55
Region 4-5A semifinal: Rockledge 87, TERRA 77
Region 4-4A semifinals: North Broward Prep 50, Calvary Christian 48; Mater Lakes 77, Gulliver Prep 46
Region 4-3A semifinals: Westminster Academy 69, Boca Raton St. Andrews 65; Riviera Prep 67, Hialeah Educational 53.
Region 4-2A semifinals: Sagemont 79, Atlantic Christian 54; True North 75, Westwood Christian 57
