Riviera Prep edges Westminster Academy to continue dominance in rivalry
During its run of two consecutive state championships and three state finals appearances in a row, Riviera Prep has shown very little can rattle their team.
The Bulldogs have persevered recently through injuries to key players.
And on Monday night they endured one of their toughest tests from one of their biggest rivals.
Mason Fuentes’ running shot with 2.5 seconds remaining kept Riviera Prep on a possible path to a “three-peat” as it lifted the Bulldogs to a 76-75 comeback win on its home floor over Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy in a Region 4-2A semifinal.
Riviera Prep (18-10) will next host Miami Country Day on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the regional finals.
The Bulldogs beat the visiting Lions (14-13) for the fourth consecutive season in the playoffs.
Fuentes’ shot came moments after Alex Constanza, who finished with a game-high 34 points, gave Westminster Academy a one-point lead in a game that had 13 lead changes when he drove to the basket and drew a foul on Peter Okechukwu.
Constanza hit both free throws with 8.5 seconds left.
Fuentes cooly dribbled down court and drove just outside the paint and hoisted up a roughly 10-foot jumper and swished it, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
At that point in the game, Fuentes’ brother, Myles, who had 19 points, had fouled out.
Forward Jeremy Jenkins, who led Riviera with 23 points, had fouled out.
And this was a Bulldogs team which was already playing without starting 7-foot center Gus Guimaraes in recent weeks due to a season-ending ankle injury. And without his backup, 6-10 forward Olisaemeka Williams Itumo, who recently suffered a skull fracture after being elbowed in the face.
“This was probably the grittiest win in my coaching career. We lost two guys who play such a huge part in what we do,” Riviera Prep coach Anthony Shahbaz said. “The guys stayed the course and stayed confident. We had two guys foul out. That shot by Mason at the end is why he’s big time. We’re never going to get rattled in these types of games. That’s what we fought for all year was to have a chance to win that type of game.”
Riviera remained resilient led by the quartet of the Fuentes brothers, 6-7 freshman guard Laron Mack, who totaled 19 points, and Jenkins, a sophomore 6-9 forward who played one of the best games of his young career.
“The whole game my team stuck together,” said Mason Fuentes, who finished with 13 points. “We all believed in each other and everyone stepped up, my brother, Laron (Mack), Jeremy. When it’s crunch time, they believe in me to hit that shot and that’s what I do every day.”
For a while, it appeared Westminster would finally end the one-sided dominance in recent years in the series between it and Riviera Prep.
Constanza, a 6-8 junior forward and four-star prospect, was dominant at both ends of the floor.
Alex Lloyd, a 6-3 combo guard and University of Florida signee, started slow, but heated up in the second half and finished with 25 points.
The Lions led 48-38 on Lloyd’s three-pointer midway through the third quarter. But the Bulldogs answered with a 9-1 surge and eventually took the lead to end the period on Fuentes’ steal and score.
“We knew they were going to break sooner or later. We play harder than everyone else,” Mason Fuentes said. “I’ve been in these moments my whole life. Some of our guys hadn’t been through this. We were down 18 last year at their place so we weren’t worried.”
