Miami Norland boys hoops back on top after rallying to win seventh state championship
Miami Norland’s boys basketball players brought a goat mask to the RP Funding Center on Friday night.
Their coach Lawton Williams didn’t put it on.
Williams has never been one to show too much emotion or get too involved in the hoopla.
But even he acquiesced and held the mask posing for pictures on the court while holding up a combined seven fingers to show what he and the Vikings had just accomplished.
Friday was a special evening for Norland as it won its seventh state championship and first since 2015 with a 61-48 comeback victory over Tampa Blake in the Class 5A state final.
The triumph only cemented the Vikings’ belief that their beloved coach, who dealt with severe health issues in the offseason to complete his 21st season, was the “GOAT.”
“Coach has got seven (rings) now,” Norland guard Marcus Allen said. “He’s Tom Brady.”
Williams broke character, if only for a moment, when the final buzzer sounded on Friday. He pumped his fist in celebration, and later, while his players rushed onto the court, took a slow victory lap around the arena, holding up his seven fingers greeting numerous friends and acquaintances from the Norland community that made the trip to Lakeland.
The Vikings (21-10), who have the second-most state titles of any Miami-Dade County team behind Miami High, improved to 14-0 all-time at the state final four under Williams’ tutelage and moved into a tie for sixth place all-time for most titles in state history with Fort Lauderdale Dillard and Daytona Beach Seabreeze.
Williams also tied former Blanche Ely coach Melvin Randall for the most career state titles for a coach in state history. Williams, who has a career record of 463-148, is the only one to accomplish the feat at the same school.
“This one is really sweet,” said Williams, who was hospitalized in the offseason with congenital heart failure and away from the team for four months last offseason. “I haven’t been here (in Lakeland) in nine years. We worked for this, practiced at 5 am in the morning a lot of times. We earned it.”
It wasn’t easy.
The Vikings fell behind early, missing their first five shots and trailing 9-1 after the first five minutes of the game. Blake’s frontcourt led by Joe Philon, who had four blocks in the first half, put a lid on the rim for the Vikings for most of the first half.
But Norland, led by Triston Wilson who had 23 points, seven rebounds and three steals, kept itself in the game and narrowed the gap to 25-22 by halftime.
“We started slow, but we work on the situations every day,” Wilson said. “We stayed together and came back to win the game. We knew we were a second-half team and we could come back.”
Jamal Ware’s bucket with 6:19 left in the third quarter gave the Vikings their first lead. The advantage stretched to nine by the end of the third quarter on an alley-oop from Wilson to Allen.
Norland outscored Blake 17-5 in the third quarter, and never trailed again.
After Wilson, five other Norland players scored six or more points. The Vikings limited Blake (26-6) to 30.4 percent shooting, outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 35-25 and had seven steals.
“We were only down three points and we played about as badly as we could possibly play so I actually felt good at the half,” Williams said. “(It was) Defense. We really got up there and guarded them. We ran and jumped and pressured the ball. We rattled them.”
For Norland, which has eight seniors on its roster, including Wilson and Allen, victory was a perfect ending to their high school careers after coming frustratingly short of making it to Lakeland each of the past three seasons.
The Vikings lost in the regional final three consecutive years to the eventual state champions.
But on Friday night, they were the champions.
“To lose that game three straight years and then win my last high school game, for me is something special,” Wilson said. “It’s even more special for Coach (Williams). He dealt with health issues and came back for us one more year so we wanted to give him one more ring.”
