Westminster Christian wins rare boys’ basketball district title
The Westminster Christian boys’ basketball team did something it hadn’t done in 15 years on Saturday night — win a district title.
After a close, back-and-forth game, the Warriors defeated Archbishop Carroll 72-61 in the District 16-3A final.
Junior Justin Brown had a game-high 24 points, and Josue Velazquez, the only senior on the team, scored 16 points and had three steals.
After a disappointing upset loss against Palmer Trinity in last season’s district quarterfinals, the Warriors were hungry for success.
“We put a lot of effort on defense this season and focused more on the small details,” coach P.J. Brown said.
Westminster Christian will face International School of Broward at 7 p.m. Thursday in the first round of regionals.
▪ District 16-3A final — Westminster Christian 72, Archbishop Carroll 61: ACC: J. Rosario 10, J. D. Cordero 4, A. Miralles 7, R. Diaz 9, C. Villamil 7 , L. Fred 17, Anglada 7 WC (23-4): J. Raine 5, T. Halfaker 10, K. Paicely 10 , J. Velazquez 16, J. Brown 24, J. Rivera 3, J. Avery 4. Half: 34-27 WC. Three-pointers J. Rosario 1, D. Cordero1, R. Diaz 2, C. Villail 1, D. Massirman 2, Velazquez 2. Rebounds: J. Raine 9. Assists: Paicely 5. Steals: Velazquez 3.
▪ District 13-2A final — Grandview Prep 64, Zion Lutheran 56: Zion Lutheran was trying to recover from the recent news its coach, John Guion, was arrested on battery and child-abuse charges after allegedly uttering a racial slur to his step-daughter.
The Class 2A No. 1 Lions took their home court against archrival Grandview Prep in the District 13-2A championship game hoping to put the Guion saga behind them, at least for one night, but looked out of sorts down the stretch.
Eric Kapel was appointed interim coach as Guion’s status for the remainder of the season remains unclear.
“To tell you it hasn’t been difficult I would be lying,” Kapel said. “The kids, up until [Friday], we thought Coach Guion was coming back. [On Friday night] after we found out, we had pizza and wings and hung out at the school as a team to try and stick together. We walked out together. We are trying to show that we have developed a next-man up policy, a standard in our program that if a person goes down another person has to step up to take a new role.”
Brandon Bornelus led the Lions with a game-high 19 points and Keith Stone, the Lions’ Class 2A player of the year candidate, finished with 18 points but it wasn’t enough to offset the uncharacteristic rash of turnovers that led to breakaway baskets and missed defensive assignments that doomed the Lions’ bid to host the regional quarterfinals.
Pride 6-4 star guard Jamal Palmer helped Grandview avenge a buzzer-beating loss to the Lions earlier this season with a game-high 26 points, including eight down the stretch to seal the victory.
Stone’s three-pointer tied the score at 51 with 2:58 left before Palmer started his game-closing spurt with a layup and then a tip-in off a wild scramble with 1:03 left to give Grandview a 59-53 lead.
Despite the loss, Zion has enough time to right its ship and keep up its end of what should be a third and final meeting with Grandview in the regional semifinals on Feb. 17.
Stone called a players’ only meeting Thursday to try and keep the Lions focused through all the unwanted attention the program has received this past week.
“We are praying and keeping our heads up,” Stone said. “I am keeping them all together, a cohesive unit and not having everybody pull them apart saying this or that about them. We should be ready for anything that comes our way.”
FABIAN LYON
GP (24-3): Coblin 14, Frazier 4, Occeus 13, Marcelin 1, Schner 6, Palmer 26. ZL (19-6): Stone 18, Witty 1, Bornelus 19, E. Louis 7, Dailey 19, G. Louis 2. Half: ZL 22-19. Three-pointers: Bornelus 3, Occeus 2, E. Louis 1, Stone 1. Rebounds: Palmer 13, Occeus 10, Marcelin 8.
▪ District 16-4A final — Gulliver Prep 46, Ransom Everglades 39 (OT): GP: Pattullo 14, Massirman 9, Heckaman 7, Perez 6, Sotolongo 4, Grimwade 2. RE: Rivlin 16, Black 10, Woolworth 7, Cobb 4, Duetch 2. Three-pointers: Massirman 3, Perez 2, Rivlin 2, Black 2. Rebounds: Jackson 11 Assists: Pattullo 3. Half: 19-18 GP
▪ District 15-2A final — Miami Christian 61, Calusa Prep 56: MC: Styles 5, Smith 19, Diaz 10,Fernandez 6, Reese 9, Allen 12. CP: Thompson 13, Joseph 3, Lopez 4, Colon 10, Araujo 14, Pena 4, Matos 9. Three-pointers Smith 1, Fernandez 1, Reese 1, Thompson 2, Lopez 1, Colon 2. Half: 32-26 MC.
▪ District 16-5A final — Cardinal Gibbons 85, Dillard 72:
▪ Late Friday, District 11-8A final — Douglas 87, Deerfield 84: DB (11-15). SD (15-9).
SOFTBALL
▪ Braddock 22, South Dade 11:WP: Beatriz Navarro. LP: Coco Atkings. Top Performers: Caridad Bolivar 3-3, double, 3 RBI, 3 runs. Gabriela Pujadas 3-4, triple, 3 RBI, 3 runs. Shelsea Brenes 2-3, 4 runs.
▪ Late Friday — American 10, University School 0:WP: Alexis Castroman (1-0) : CG, No-Hitter, 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 K, 0 BB; 2 for 3, RBI. LP: Nani Flores. Top Performers: Kayleen Romero 2-4, 2B, 3B, RBI. Alexis Guzman 2-3, 2 RBI. Vanessa Abreu 2-3, 2B, RBI.
▪ Late Thursday — Westminster Christian 15, St. Brendan 0: WP:Victoria Perez (1-0). LP: S. Pascilla. Top Performers: Victoria Perez GS. Ally Mena 2-2, double. Kia Benitez 2-3, double, 3 RBI. WC 1-0.
▪ Late Thursday — Palmetto 8, Southridge 0: WP: Amanda Guglietta (2-0). LP: Alyssa Fonda. Top Performers: Amanda Guglietta 6 K’s, 4 hits, 2-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBI. Top Performers: Carly Herskowitz 2-3, double, run. PAL 2-0.
BASEBALL
▪ SLAM 5, Palmetto 4:WP: Andrew Velez 3 IP. Brian Frias 2-4, 2 RBI. Jeter Downs 1-4, 2 RBI. Andrew Velez 1-3, RBI. Adrian DelCastillo 1-4. Kevin Garcia 1-3. Chauncey Nunez 1-3.
▪ Marathon Pre Season Tournament — Palmer Trinity 8, Mourning 1: WP: Walker. Top Performers: Roberts 1-2, 2 RBI. Steinman 2-3, triple.
▪ Marathon Pre Season Tournament — Palmer Trinity 12, Marathon 0: WP: Jones. Top Performers: Font 2-4, 3 RBI. Hebble 2-3.
▪ Late Friday — Miami High 4, Miami Springs 3:WP: Christian Torres. LP: Dylan Carter. SV: Chris Rodriguez. Top Performers: Dayron Mallea 2-3, RBI. Gus Miranda 1-2, RBI.
▪ Late Friday — Mourning 12, Marathon 1:WP: Brandon Rios 4 IP, 10 K’s. Top Performers: Alex Perez 2-2, 3 RBI. Max Liff 2-3 2 RBI.
▪ Late Friday — Southridge 15, Coral Park 5:WP: Austin Dreher 4 IP, 2R, 4H, 6K. LP: Anthony Vazquez. Top Performers: Dylan Krzeminski 3-4, 2 RBI. Diandre Amion 3-5, 3 RBI.
GIRLS’ TENNIS
▪ Late Friday — TERRA 5, Miami High 2: Sophia Adams (8-0). Michelle Adan-Pol (8-0). Valeria Flandes (8-4). Nicole Cinquino (8-0). TER 1-0.
This story was originally published February 7, 2015 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Westminster Christian wins rare boys’ basketball district title."