Defending state champion Miramar survives 1st-round scare with chase-down block at buzzer
The last shot was nearly at its apex. The final seconds were ticking away. DeShawn Jean-Charles had to reach as far as he could to keep Miramar’s Class 7A championship defense alive.
It hadn’t been a great night for him overall and he had been burned — badly — on Cypress Bay’s final possession. Jaylen Bernard’s potential game-winning shot was gliding to the rim, ready to erase the Patriots’ 53-52 lead in Miramar.
“It was just desperation,” the junior said.
Jean-Charles stretched and swung with all his might, and he swatted the final shot off the backboard. The reigning state champions survived a first-round scare in the Region 4-Class 7A quarterfinals.
The last-second block capped a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback for the Miramar to avoid a first-round upset in the Region 4-7A playoffs. After struggling through most of four quarters, Jean-Charles scored or assisted on the Patriots’ last seven points in the final 1:15 to finish off a come-from-behind win at Miramar High School.
With the one-point win, the Patriots advance to face Western in the Region 4-7A semifinals Tuesday and will host the Wildcats in a rematch of the Big 8 championship at Bernie Hamrick Gymnasium.
“It’s high school basketball, man,” Patriots coach Tramaine Stevens said. “You don’t know what you’re going to get sometimes.”
Jean-Charles finished with just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting with four turnovers, but delivered three of the biggest plays of the game in the final minute to avoid the upset.
His two free throws with 1:15 remaining tied the game at 48-48 and Cypress Bay guard Maxwell Gordon answered with two more. Miramar (9-2) took a timeout to draw up a sure thing.
Stevens didn’t care how shaky Jean-Charles had been throughout. He promised his star wing he would get him a game-winning layup.
Patriots guard Isaiah Williams ran some clock from the left wing with the offense spread out along the perimeter. With a minute left, Jean-Charles flashed from the left corner down to the block and Williams fed him in the paint. The junior spun to his left and finished a layup through contact, adding a free throw to give Miramar a 51-50 lead — its first since it led 2-0 in the opening minutes, then slogged through a 15-point first half with only 15 shot attempts and seven turnovers.
“Coach kept telling me keep my head up,” Jean-Charles said. “Coach T ended up calling it.”
On the other end, Gordon hit two more free throws and the Lightning (8-10) went back ahead 52-51 with 38.5 seconds remaining.
Jean-Charles was content to wait and take the last shot, until he saw an opening. Maxx Martinez — the Patriots’ best three-point shooter — could get an open look in the corner if Jean-Charles could collapse the defense. He drove to the middle and Cypress Bay sent help to the guard to prevent a three. Williams, who led all scorers with 16, slipped in the back door and Jean-Charles found him beneath the basket for an easy layup to put Miramar ahead again 53-52 with 21.5 seconds left.
The Patriots kept the pressure on the Lightning and forced Cypress Bay to take a timeout with five seconds left to prevent a turnover. The Lightning’s play out of the break was simple: Bernard, who had scored 13 points, isolated against Jean-Charles at the top of the key. It was best against best, and Jean-Charles, after nearly giving up the game-winning bucket, won the 1-on-1 showdown by making one last game-winning play.
“I’ve got three guys that have been on this stage,” Stevens said. “He understands the moment, so when we get out there — you’ve practiced, you’ve prepared and you just try to make stuff happen.”
