Miramar outlasts Oak Ridge in OT to reach first boys’ basketball state championship game
Khamaury McMillan dribbled his way through Orlando Oak Ridge’s final trap near midcourt and a smile finally crept up the edges of his face. The Miramar point guard exhaled in relief as the buzzer sounded, then sprinted out toward the three-point line, where Malik Cooper was ready to greet him with a chest bump to celebrate a 59-55 win in the Class 7A semifinals.
It took four minutes of overtime in Lakeland, but the Patriots were headed to the state championship for the first time in school history.
“We set out this season to make history at Miramar,” coach Tramaine Stevens said. “Hopefully this year it’ll the time we bring home a state championship.”
The Patriots (23-6) survived a gruesome opening quarter and a 27-point scoring barrage from star Oak Ridge wing Michael James. Miramar blew a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter and missed a potential game-winning shot in regulation with the score tied 46-46. In their third trip to the final four, the Patriots finally made it to the state championship game by going 9 for 10 at the free-throw line in the extra period at the RP Funding Center.
Miramar will play for its first state title Saturday against Sanford Seminole at 8 p.m. inside George Jenkins Arena. Whoever wins will be a state champion for the first time.
“Every day we practice finishing plays, closing out games free throw-wise, making layups, and boxing out and rebounding,” Stevens said, “and that’s how you finish games off.”
In the postseason, the Patriots have learned how to win ugly. In the Region 4-7A championship, they only scored 37 points and still beat Davie Western to advance to 7A semifinals. On Friday, Miramar opened 1 of 12 from the field and still only trailed 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The Patriots held the Pioneers (21-9) without a field goal for the last 3:55 of the first quarter and the 5:20 of the second — a field-goal drought of 9:15. Oak Ridge at one point didn’t even attempt a field goal for 3:27 straight. Miramar ripped off an 8-0 run from the end of the first quarter into the second and went into halftime ahead 23-15.
While they never trailed in the second half, the Patriots spent the final four minutes of regulation trading baskets and free throws with the Pioneers, jumping ahead by two and then falling back into a tie. Miramar held the ball for the final 1:02 of the fourth quarter and took a time out with 6.2 seconds to go and the score tied 46-46. A scramble ensued, and Brent Davis wound up with an open look near the top of the key. The guard — who finished with 11 points — missed, and the game went to overtime.
“I had a good look,” said Davis, who signed a national letter of intent with The Citadel Bulldogs. “I just rushed it.”
Somewhere in the mayhem, James had crumpled to the court. A four-star small forward in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2022, James spent the next few minutes writhing on the ground with a potentially serious injury to his left leg. After scoring a game-high 27 points in regulation, the junior couldn’t go in overtime.
Still, Oak Ridge took its first lead since the second quarter once the extra period began when guard Fabio Basili finished a layup down the left side of the lane. Davis responded with two free throws on the other end to tie the score at 48-48, then Miramar jumped ahead again with back-to-back layups by forwards Deshawn Jean-Charles and Michael Lott, who led the Patriots with 14 points and six rebounds. Any time the Pioneers cut the lead back to two points the rest of the way, Miramar answered to push the lead back to multiple possessions.
Nine of the Patriots’ 13 points in the extra period came on free throws. Davis and McMillan, who finished with 12 points, both went 2 for 2, and power forward Faheim Saintleger Meran went 6 for 7. The moment never got to Miramar and now another bit of history is one win away.
“We practice free throws every day, so when we go to the free-throw line it’s like nothing,” Davis said. “No pressure.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 3:23 PM.
