Riviera Prep maintains edge over Westminster Academy to clinch return trip to state
Riviera Prep faced multiple factors on Friday night that could often derail even the best basketball teams.
Playing on the road in a mostly hostile environment. Facing a familiar opponent hungry for payback.
But the Bulldogs have spent the past three seasons growing accustomed to overcoming all sorts of challenges.
Led by junior guard Dante Allen, a four-star prospect who finished with a game-high 23 points, Riviera Prep weathered an early storm from Westminster Academy and emerged with a 75-60 victory over the Lions in the Region 4-3A final.
The game pitted two of the top five teams in the state according to the FHSAA’s power rankings.
But it was the Bulldogs (23-8) who continued to own the series between the two state powerhouses as they beat Westminster Academy for the third consecutive season in the regional finals.
“They gave us everything they had over those first three quarters, but again our defense has been our staple for many years,” Riviera Prep coach Anthony Shahbaz said. “In the second half, it came up big. The kids hit big shots and played for one other. They were giving us some hard fouls and playing hard. But we kept our calm and focus and stayed with it.”
Riviera Prep, which will take on Tampa Berkeley Prep on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in a Class 3A state semifinal at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, will seek to win back-to-back state titles as it makes its third consecutive trip to the final four.
Friday night’s had a “state championship” feel to it, however.
Numerous Bulldogs fans who made the drive up from Kendall to Fort Lauderdale, and lined up in multiple rows behind the Riviera Prep bench, made the atmosphere in Westminster’s gym even more energetic and evened the odds a bit in the stands.
But in the end, the battle on the court is what mattered.
And Riviera Prep won that often physical struggle despite falling behind by five points in the opening minutes of a game that would have 11 lead changes. Riviera Prep took the lead for good late in the third quarter on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Mason Fuentes, who finished with nine points.
“Our experience helped us stay composed,” Fuentes said. “All of us have been here before. We just focused on taking the best shots possible. We had a lot of ups and downs, but we knew it was a mental game at this point. We knew we’d come back.”
Allen made sure Riviera Prep took control, igniting in the fourth quarter when he scored 10 of his points.
“He’s the most underappreciated superstar in the country,” Shahbaz said. “He plays both sides and never takes a bad shot and always makes the extra pass. He could take 30 shots, but he never does because he believes in the team concept.”
Westminster Academy (23-6) went toe-to-toe with Riviera thanks to Alex Costanza’s 22 points and Alex Lloyd’s 15 points. But Lloyd picked up his third foul with 5:50 left and fourth foul just 23 seconds later, forcing him to sit through a critical stretch.
With or without him, the Lions struggled containing the Bulldogs’ frontcourt as junior center Gustavo Guimaraes totaled 20 points and Jeremy Jenkins delivered eight more, often on second chance points.
Freshman guard Myles Fuentes hurt his left ankle in the fourth quarter, but totaled 12 points. Myles and Mason Fuentes combined to hit four of Riviera Prep’s nine made three-pointers.
“These are the two best teams in our class,” Shahbaz said. “I really believe that. It deserves to be a state final game, but it had the feeling of a heavyweight title fight. We ended up landing more blows in the end.”
▪ Region 4-5A final - Miami Norland 69, Rockledge 48: The Vikings (19-10) advanced to the state final four for the first time since 2015. Norland will be the top seed in the Class 5A state semifinals and face Cape Coral Mariner on March 6 at 1 p.m. at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
The Vikings, who have the second-most state titles of any Miami-Dade County team, will attempt to win their seventh championship.
This story was originally published February 23, 2024 at 11:33 PM.
