South Miami boys’ basketball holds off North Miami to advance to state semifinals
Toru Dean scored South Miami’s final seven point to lead the host Cobras to a 62-53 win over North Miami Friday night in the region 4-9A final.
“They were trapping my brother [Arturo Dean] and coach told me that I need to get in and take over,” T. Dean said. “We have got ready all week long for this. Coach said to stick to the game plan and we’ll be going to state.”
South Miami (25-5) started the game strong and jumped out to a 8-0 lead. In the second quarter a pair of back-to-back dunks put the Cobras up 33-19. South Miami led 36-28 at halftime.
In the third quarter, North Miami (21-8) outscored South Miami 14-13 to stay in it. Thanks to a and-one basket by Richard Charles the Pioneers cut the Cobras’ lead to 52-46 with 4:42 to play. After that, Toru Dean scored seven of the next 10 points to help South Miami pull away. His scores came on drives to the basket and at the foul line.
The Cobras have now advanced to the state semifinal stage four times in the last seven years . However, South Miami has not won a boys’ basketball championship in that time span.
“I think this is the team that can do it, we need to listen to coach because he’s been there before,” said Lee Flenor, who posted a double-double on Friday night with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Toru Dean led South Miami with 19 points and 11 assists and five steals. As a team South Miami had 13 steals. Charles led the Pioneers with 19 points, including three three-pointers.
North Miami was looking to advance to state in boy’s basketball for the first time since 1960 when the Pioneers won state.
The Cobras will advance to the state semifinal to face Osceola (Kissimmee) on March 8 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
“I’m already thinking about the next game, we have some tough kids and if we follow the game plan and play good D we’ll have a chance to win,” coach Robert Doctor said.
More regional final results
▪ Region 3-9A — Wellington 40, Cypress Bay 37: Wellington junior De’Ante Perez stole an inbound pass with three seconds left in a tied game and sank a 40-foot buzzer beater to send the Wolverines (24-6) to the state semifinals.
▪ Region 4-8A — Blanche Ely 57, Mater Academy Charter 54: Tyrecke Francois scored 22 points and Joshua Scott added 16 to lift Ely over Mater Academy Charter and clinch a state semifinal berth.
▪ Region 4-6A — Stranahan 86, Eustis 62: Host Stranahan jumped out to a 47-24 halftime lead and then virtually matched Eustis tit for tat in the final 16 minutes to punch its ticket to Lakeland. The Mighty Dragons (25-6) will face Nature Coast Tech at 8 p.m. Friday in the state semifinals.
▪ Region 4-5A — University School 39, Westminster Christian 36: The Sharks came out on top in a low-scoring affair and will look to defend their Class 5A title.
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 11:30 PM.