South Miami, North Miami to play for GMAC boys’ basketball championship
The Palmetto Panthers boys basketball team had the lead and the momentum on their home court over South Miami in the GMAC boys’ basketball tournament semifinals.
And then the second quarter began.
South Miami ramped up its defensive presence and got big scoring performances from Toru Dean and Lee Flenor to take a 60-38 win on Tuesday night and advance to the championship game. The Cobras (17-5) will host North Miami for the title on Thursday night. The Pioneers advanced by defeating Coral Gables 63-51 in the earlier semifinal.
Palmetto (19-6) quickly jumped out to the lead, winning the opening tipoff and scoring the first points of the game on an Alex Rodriguez dunk. The Panthers quickly built their lead up to 13-9 before Toru Dean sank a buzzer-beater to close out the opening frame.
From there, it was all Cobras. South Miami outscored Palmetto 14-5 in the second quarter to take a 25-18 lead at halftime. The Cobras never looked back from there.
By the end of the third quarter, South Miami had a 17-point lead (45-28). The advantage increased to as many as 23 late in the fourth quarter before putting in their reserves for the final two minutes.
Dean led South Miami with 19 points, while Flenor added 12. Kentron Poitier led Palmetto with 8 points, all in the second half.
In the first semifinal, North Miami never trailed but never had a comfortable lead until late in the fourth quarter. After a Coral Gables layup cut North Miami’s lead to 43-40 with about seven minutes left, the Pioneers outscored the Cavaliers 20-11 down the stretch.
Senior Richard Charles led North Miami (18-5) with 16 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. Senior Anthony Bazan added 15 points and Carlos Hart had 12 points of his own in the win.
BOYS BASKETBALL
▪ Doral 72, Coral Reef 36: DA: Nuñez 26, Carter 17, Alawie 12, Pellerano 12, Flores 3, Perez 2; CR: Bowen 11, Clarinton 7, Rivas 4, Lane 3, Lipson 3, Clark 2, Lovett 2, Polanco 2, Williams 2.
▪ TERRA 67, Varela 61: TERRA: J. Swihart 28, Santiago 16, Deas 8, Lopez 6, Dominguez 5, Blanco 2.
▪ Hillel 56, Ransom Everglades 38: HIL (16-6): Ben-Shmuel 11, D. Abbo 8, Berkman 7, Birmaher 6, Taieb 6, Gilbert 5, Bacal 4, Almkies 4, Acherman 3, Assraf 2; RE: Schiff 9, Ortiz 8, Thorpe 7, Kodsi 7, Szomstein 5, Lampert 2.
▪ St. Brendan 82, Northwest Christian 48: SB: Spina 23, Saller N 14, Diaz 11, Iglesias 10, Saller M 10, Hernandez 6, Valenzuela 5, Perez 2, Diaz 1; NC: Ulysse 21, Smith 8, Sykes 6, Timothee 4, Doreinvil 4, Dorvilus 3, Jackson 2.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
▪ District 15-9A semifinal: Ferguson 69, South Miami 23 - FER: Torres 26, Alcivar 7, Dominguez 6, Betancurt 6, Ricardo 5, Charlton 5, Abdala 3, Cerchione 2; SM: Evora 9, Gonzalez 7, Leblanc 4, Dixon 2, Lopez 1.