Columbus holds off Palmetto for GMAC basketball title as it chases more history
The post-Boozer era hasn’t been as smooth as the past few years for Columbus.
But the Explorers still have the talent and the clutch performers to pull off tough wins.
That grit showed in the closing minutes of Saturday’s boys’ GMAC basketball championship when Columbus held off a spirited effort by Miami Palmetto to prevail 62-58 at the Reagan High gym in Doral.
The Explorers were back in the tournament this season after not participating last year, and won the title for the fourth time in the past four seasons in which they have played in it.
“It was an ugly win for us, but in the last three minutes the guys locked in and made some key plays and grabbed key rebounds and made some big free throws,” said Columbus coach Jorge Milo, who is in his first season as head coach after Andrew Moran became an assistant coach at the University of Miami.
“They have some great shooters that can make big shots for them. We might see them again in the regional finals so it was an important win for us.”
Columbus (17-6) showed it is still quite capable of securing a fifth consecutive state championship, which would tie the state record and set the longest streak for Dade school.
But without the star duo of Cameron and Cayden Boozer (now freshmen at Duke), it’s been harder on the national stage for the Explorers this season.
Columbus slipped from their preseason top 5 national ranking, and is now ranked 40th nationally by MaxPreps.
The Explorers have lost three more games than they did during last season’s 30-3 national championship run - albeit mostly against nationally-ranked opposition.
It took everything Columbus had Saturday to avoid a seventh loss and what would have been its first loss to a Miami-Dade County opponent in three years.
Palmetto (18-5), the last Dade team to beat Columbus, was a fearless underdog, which nailed 14 three-pointers and briefly led the game by a point in the first half.
Led by their own sharpshooter Felipe Quinones, who totaled 27 points including five triples, Columbus used a late 9-1 run with under a minute left to pull away.
Miami commit Caleb Gaskins finished with 20 points while his younger brother, Cayden, added 12 points.
“Our execution has to get better. Greats teams execute and have a game plan that we follow up with,” Milo said. “Some of these guys are young and haven’t played at this level they get sped up. It’s a big challenge. Guys are uncomfortable, but that’s how you learn. We just have to keep putting them on this stage and they keep learning.”
The Panthers later drew even at 29 in the second quarter on one of Samfree Sarante’s seven three-pointers.
Columbus used a 6-0 spurt to pull ahead again just before halftime.
Palmetto didn’t let the Explorers turn the game into a rout, however. Sarante finished with a game-high 25 points and cut Columbus’ lead to 49-47 early in the fourth. Sebastian Madera, who scored 12 points, hit a three to pull within a point at 51-50 before Columbus pulled away for good behind the Gaskins brothers’ solid defense and a late breakaway score from Cello Jackson.
Jaiden Horton also had 14 points for Palmetto and made four three-pointers.
