Miami Palmetto boys finish runner-up in Junior Orange Bowl basketball Classic

Miami Palmetto boys’ basketball coach Alex Ordoqui knows that if he ever wants to find a way for his team to have any remote chance of challenging Region 4-7A giant Columbus in the upcoming postseason, there will be nights like Monday night where it isn’t so much fun.

After recording a pair of upset wins over defending 6A state champion Pembroke Pines Charter and two-time tournament champion Mount St. Joseph’s (from Baltimore, MD) to navigate their way to the championship game, the Panthers flat ran out of upset bids, dropping a decisive 77-61 contest to No. 18 nationally-ranked Roman Catholic High School from Philadelphia in the championship game of the Junior Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at Westminster Christian.

“Our kids kept fighting the entire way,” Ordoqui said. “But obviously we didn’t shoot the ball as well as we could’ve in the first half and against a really good team like that, you’ve got to make tough shots and we just weren’t able to make as many shots as we could to kind of give us ourselves a better chance to pull the upset off.”

Ordoqui watched his team come out ice cold from the floor and fall behind 18-7 after the first quarter and the Panthers (10-5) were never much of a threat the rest of the game. The deficit reached as much as 24 late in the third quarter before Palmetto, led by sophomore Samfree Sarante (25 points) and senior point guard Santiago Henriquez (24 points), carved it down to 12 with three minutes left.

“They’re big guy really killed us and it’s hard to defend the rest of the team if you draw so much attention to one guy,” Ordoqui said. “They were superior to us athletically, I thought we hung in there really well. If we shoot the ball a little better in the first half, maybe it would’ve been more interesting.”

Ordoqui referred to Roman Catholic power forward and Lafayette commit Shareef Jackson, who scored 17 points and dominated in the paint, pulling down 13 rebounds on his way to being named the tournament MVP.

“When you play a really good team, it’s important to get off to a good start early on and challenge them and we just didn’t do that,” said Henriquez, a Kaiser University commit. “Falling behind early and trying to play catch up is not how you beat a team like that.”

But Ordoqui will be the first to tell you that in order to get ready for the playoffs in February when the games really count, playing a tough schedule in December and January can pay dividends down the road. Before this tournament, the Panthers returned from a pre-Christmas trip to Las Vegas playing in the Tarkanian Invitational in which they went 2-2 against top-flight competition.

“To be honest, we can’t worry about Columbus,” said Ordoqui. “They’re recruiting all over the country and how does any program around here compete with that? All we’re trying to do is be the best Palmetto basketball program we can be, trying to win every day and see how far that takes us. We’re very young, only two seniors, and by playing a challenging schedule and traveling out of town, playing against these national teams in these tournaments, it gives them a great experience and ultimately helps you get better as a team.”

GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP

Bradley Central (TN) 57, Springboro (OH) 54: Sporting a resumé that included back-to-back Tennessee state championships, a 33 game winning streak and No. 8 Max Preps national ranking, Bradley Central had to work hard for it but fought off the upset bid to hang and win the Girls Junior Orange Bowl Basketball Classic.

Neither team ever led by more than five points and it wasn’t until Malia Wilcox drained two free throws with eight seconds left and Springboro committed a turnover with three seconds left that their 34th straight win was secured.

Bradley Central, located just outside Chattanooga, was led by junior Kimora Fields and senior Harmonie Ware, who poured down 19 and 18 points, respectively. In the post game awards ceremony, Ware, an Arkansas commit, was named the tournament MVP. McKenzie Jones (26 points) and Washington commit Bryn Martin (16 points) led the way for Springboro.

CONSOLATION GAMES

Girls 3rd Place – Magnificat (OH) 64, Doral Academy 52: After making a first-ever trip to the state Final Four last March, Doral is hoping to return to Lakeland and brought a 12-3 and No. 4 overall state ranking (regardless of classification) into the third place consolation match.

But the Blue Streaks, from Rocky River, Ohio (just outside of Cleveland) proved too much, thanks mainly to some red hot 3-point shooting. Led by Sofia Wilson, Magnificat shot 11-of-21 (53 percent) from beyond the arc with Wilson (6-for-9, 20 points) leading the way.

After falling behind 19-7 late in the first quarter, the Firebirds (12-4), led by VIctoria Valle and Stephanie Vega (15 points apiece) battled back to tie the game at 28 just before halftime.

But Magnificat then scored the final six points of the first half and went on an 18-6 run to start the second half to lead 52-34. Doral never got closer than 10 points after that. Ashley Martinez was the other Doral player in double figures, finishing with 11 points.

Boys 3rd Place – Woodward Academy (GA) 73, Mount St. Joseph (MD) 54: Led by Jarvis Hayes (20 points) and Zac Foster (17 points), Woodward Academy (just outside of Atlanta) jumped out to a double digit lead in the first five minutes and cruised to the easy win. Mount St. Joseph (just outside of Baltimore), which was a two-time champion of this event (2016 and 2019) was led by Joseph Green and Enrico Purnell with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Girls 5th Place – Miami SLAM Academy 42, Miami High 39 (OT): Samantha Bautista and Aubreyanna Montalvo combined for 29 of their team’s 42 points as the Titans pulled out the overtime win. Bautista led all scorers with 16 points (12 of those on 3 pointers) while Montalvo finished with 13 points.

But neither had the biggest basket of the game, a three pointer by Adaya Montalvo with just under a minute to play that tied the game at 35. Miami High’s Alexie Nicolas went to the line for a pair of free throws with eight seconds left in regulation but missed both sending the game to overtime. SLAM improved to 7-5 while Miami High, which was led by Jamir Cook’s 10 points and 9 rebounds, fell to 9-6.

Boys 5th Place – Pembroke Pines Charter 66, Westminster Christian 36: Even though they were playing in their home gym, Westminster Christian proved to be no match for defending 6A state champion Pembroke Pines Charter as the Jaguars blew out to an 18-4 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.

Robert Guishard Jr. and Maximo Ortega led the way for Pines Charter (8-5) with 16 points apiece while Guishard also pulled down eight boards. Dwight Whipple led all Westminster scorers with 12 points as the Warriors fell to 10-4.

Girls 7th Place – Miami Southridge 52, Woodward (Ga.) 49: After dropping their first two games of the tournament, the Spartans salvaged one win by holding off Woodward (from College Park, Georgia just outside Atlanta) to move their overall record to 6-5.

Sophomore Naya Hardisson was easily the bread-winner for the Spartans as she led all scorers in the game with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. The Spartans trailed 16-8 after the first quarter but rallied to take a 27-22 halftime lead and never trailed in the second half. Sakura Barnes also pitched in with nine points while pulling down nine rebounds.

Boys 7th Place – Miami Norland 65, Mater Lakes Academy 52: It’s been a rough rebuilding year so far for Norland coach Lawton Williams III and the reigning 5A state champions. But the Vikings, who only returned one starter from last year’s title team, turned in a solid effort jumping out to a 19-8 lead after one quarter and coasting the rest of the way.

Anthony Walcott, Lorenzo Major Jr. and O’Neal Norelus all scored in double figures, finishing with 16, 13 and 10 points, respectively for the Vikings who improved to 6-6. Khanye Moss led the way for Mater Lakes with 18 points as the struggling Bears, who won this tournament in 2022, fell to 3-11.