South Miami boys’ basketball falls short in state semis for third time in four years
The ritual has become all too familiar for South Miami boys’ basketball. The trip to the RP Funding Center for the state semifinals is almost predestined at this point and almost every time the Cobras stay in Lakeland is over after just a day.
It was the case in 2014, 2016 and 2017, when South Miami reached the final four only to bow out one round shy of a championship shot. Now 2019 can join the list. The Cobras latest trip to George W. Jenkins Arena came to a sudden end Friday with a 62-54 loss to Kissimmee Osceola in the Class 9A semifinals.
“We’re going to keep coming back. That’s all we can do,” coach Robert Doctor said. “My guys work their a** off the whole season. We did a great job. We’re going to keep coming back until we can get it.”
Osceola advances to a 9A championship showdown with Wellington, who beat Orlando Evans, 50-32, in the earlier semifinal Friday. South Miami (25-6) heads back to South Florida, leaving Miami-Dade County without a state champion in 2019.
For a moment in the third quarter, the Cobras gave themselves a chance. They went into halftime down just 24-20 and ripped off a quick 6-0 run to start the third quarter and take the lead for the first time. Toru Dean sparked the entire run and carried South Miami the entire night.
The senior point guard began the third by getting into the paint and finishing in traffic. He fired up a three on the next possession, which was rebounded and put back by star forward Lee Flenor,who finished with a game-high nine rebounds, to knot the game at 24-24. About a minute later, Dean picked off a pass near the top of the key and raced to the hoop for an easy layup. The Cobras took their first lead 26-24 with 4:52 left in the third.
But the Kowboys (25-7) jumped back ahead with 2:28 left in the quarter. They never trailed again.
“We could never grasp the lead,” Doctor said. “I think if we had gotten the lead past like two it would’ve been a different outcome.”
There were three major challenges Osceola provided for South Miami. Most of them had to do with Isaiah Palermo. A 6-foot-5 guard for the Kowboys, Palermo gives Osceola a weapon in the halfcourt, in transition and on the boards. A three-star small forward in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2019, Palermo claims an offer from the Mississippi Rebels because of his blend of length and skill on the perimeter. In the opening eight minutes, he put the combination on display.
The senior opened the game by slithering to the basket and finishing through contact for an and-one just 38 seconds in. Two minutes later, he crashed to the rim again and drew another foul, sinking both free throws.
Palermo finished the opening period with 11 points, three rebounds and a steal, and finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals. The Cobras handled two challenges by limiting Palermo and mostly keeping the Kowboys out of transition. Osceola’s 10 second-chance points and 36 in the paint, however, were enough to lift the Kowboys to Saturday.
“A lot of second-chance points. That killed us,” Doctor said. “We talked about stopping transition, second-chance points and rebounding, and the thing that we didn’t stop was the second-chance points.”\
South Miami still sat within five points heading to the fourth quarter, but Osceola’s wealth of scoring options overwhelmed the Cobras. Dean led all scorers with 26 points and grabbed six rebounds.
“If he had another three minutes,” Kowboys coach Nate Alexander said, “he might have had 50.”
For Osceola, once Palermo slowed down, the rest of the star-laden backcourt could pick up the slack.
Point guard Josh Marte, who has signed a National Letter of Intent with the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, scored 14, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Jaduhkiss Soto, who holds an offer from the Stetson Hatters, scored 10 and grabbed eight rebounds. Even point forward Diwun Black, a four-star inside linebacker signed with the Florida Gators, finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
“We liked our size advantage and we liked our mismatches when we got in space right there,” Alexander said. “We just outgrinded them. It was just a dogfight the whole way.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 10:02 PM.
