Boys basketball regionals: Southeast High wins at the buzzer over Port Charlotte High
BRADENTON − Almost matter-of-factly and with a shrug of the shoulders, Jonathan Castaneda walked by after the game and said, “It’s just what we do.”
The late-game heroic events did not faze the Southeast High boys basketball coach.
Trailing by as many as 16 early in the game, the Seminoles tied the game with 3 seconds remaining in regulation.
Then, after a series of fortunate events, Southeast pulled out the victory.
Senior Aaron Barton had a rebound and lay-in at the buzzer to lift the Seminoles to a 61-59 victory over a stunned Port Charlotte team Thursday night in the Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinals Thursday night at John Harder Court at Buzz Narbut Gymnasium.
Daniel Mendoza III hit a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to tie the game at 59-all. After a Pirates’ timeout, Port Charlotte inbounded the ball under the basket with the intention of throwing a long pass in order to attempt a game-winning shot.
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The ball hit the rafters, giving Southeast possession.
Barton, a senior, inbounded looking for an alley-oop near the basket. But when the Pirates packed the paint, Barton kicked the ball to Mendoza in the corner. Mendoza’s shot came up short, but Barton stepped in, grabbed the rebound and dropped in the game-winning basket as the horn sounded.
“I saw the shot and it was short and I happened to be there,” Barton said.
The frantic finish capped a comeback that saw the Seminoles (18-5) down 26-10 with 4:29 left in the second quarter.
“We’ve been here before,” Barton said after finishing with a game-high 27 points, 14 in the fourth quarter. “It’s nothing. We’re prepared.”
A 10-0 run, sparked by a 4-point play by Terraze Adams and two 3-point plays by Barton got Southeast to within six.
But the Seminoles trailed 47-34 with 4:58 left in regulation.
“Southeast basketball, Southeast players on and off the court. They’re used to having their backs against the wall,” Castaneda said. “We’re fighters. We have to fight for everything we get. Nothing is really handed to them. When you’re down in a game, they always have it in their heads to come back.”
Playing Port Charlotte for the first time since 2009 and the first time in the playoffs since 2006, the Seminoles got 3-pointers from Simeon Roby (11 points), Joey Winter, Barton and Mendoza down the stretch along with two thunderous dunks by Roby.
“They hit some big shots,” Pirates coach Kip Rhoten said. “They hit some big threes down the stretch.”
“We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity this season,” Castandea said. “I told the boys the deepest relationships, tough times and really hard situations may do one of two things: You’re either going to get closer or you’re going to break up. This group of guys relies on each other and they get closer. We’ve been able to unlock a level around this time of year that hasn’t been reached all season.”
Down 59-54 with 25.3 seconds left, Barton hit a layup, Mendoza canned a 3-pointer and Barton had the game-winning putback to close out the scoring.
“Defense and staying humble the whole time, not getting in our heads and staying together, not getting too excited or down,” Barton said.
Sixth-seeded Port Charlotte (16-9) got 24 points from senior Bode Stewart, 13 points from senior Caleb Campos and 10 points from sophomore Jahyere Chin.
“We missed a foul shot, turned the ball over and gave up an offensive rebound,” Rhoten said. “I feel bad for the seniors.”
Third-seeded Southeast earns a trip to St. Petersburg, where it lost the district final last week in overtime. The rematch with the Green Devils is 7 p.m. Tuesday in the regional semifinals.
“We have unfinished business with the next team we have to see and they have to see us again,” Castaneda said.
Class 2A-Region 3
Saint Stephen's 65, Admiral Farragut 61
BRADENTON - His team up by 20 at halftime, Saint Stephen’s boys basketball coach Matt Fletcher gave his players the skinny.
“One more half,” he told them, “and you sit alone at the top.”
Indeed, the Falcons did end up sitting alone.
But first, not without some squirming.
Visiting Admiral Farragut, the No. 6 seed, cut that 20-point Saint Stephen’s halftime lead to as few as three points in the fourth quarter before the host Falcons hung on for a 65-61 victory Thursday night in a Class 2A-Region 3 quarterfinal game.
Owing to Fletcher’s “sit alone” comment, it was Saint Stephen’s first boys basketball regional victory in the 52-year history of the program.
The Falcons will travel to No. 2 St. Petersburg Canterbury, a winner over No. 7 Seacrest Country Day, on Tuesday.
If not for the play of Braden Mohr, Saint Stephen’s would be home. The senior, the team’s leading scorer during the season, scored 26 points in the first half, staking the Falcons to their 20-point bulge.
But in the second half, more hands began touching the ball for the Falcons, and the Blue Jackets (8-13) slowly crept back. They ended the third period down 53-38, and when Zion Williams connected on a 3-pointer with four minutes, 57 seconds left in the game, Farragut trailed 55-45.
It got even tighter for the Falcons. The Blue Jackets trailed 59-56 with two minutes left, with the ball and a chance to knot it with a 3. But Nick Yatros stole a pass and took it to the hoop for just his second bucket of the night, making it 61-56.
From there, Rowan Bilik, fouled intentionally by Farragut, converted four free throws. The Blue Jackets converted a trey and 2-pointer, but it wasn’t enough.
As for Mohr, he ended up with 34 points. CJ Johnson, with 13 points, was the only other Falcon player to finish in double digits.
“(Mohr) is just amazing,” Fletcher said. “He’s been amazing for us all year. He just doesn’t stop. That’s indicative of how he’s played all year.”
And neither will his Falcons stop.
“We’ve just got to keep fighting,” Fletcher said. “This group doesn’t know anything but fight. That’s what they do, that’s what they’ve done all year, and that’s what they’re going to continue to do next round."
− Doug Fernandes
Class 6A-Region 3
Charlotte 64, Largo 56
PUNTA GORDA – Charlotte High’s “energy guy” became a go-to guy Thursday night, and it propelled the Tarpons into the Class 6A-Region 3 semifinals.
Kirby Schmitz erupted for 19 points and 11 rebounds, lifting Charlotte past visiting Largo 64-56. Not only was it a season-high for the 6-foot-7, 245-pound senior, it was only the third time he’s scored in double figures since moving from Urbandale, Iowa, last fall.
“He was awesome tonight,” first-year Tarpon coach Mike Williams said. “He was the guy.”
Making its fifth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance, fourth-seeded Charlotte (15-13) will play host to eight-seed Palmetto in the 6A-3 semifinals, thanks to the Tigers’ 74-68 upset of top-seeded Tampa Leto.
Schmitz scored 14 of his 19 in the second half, sparked by a 3-pointer to open the third quarter. Largo (17-9) had scored seven unanswered points in less than a minute behind junior Adrian Moore (20 points) to pull within 29-24 at halftime.
The Tarpons had charged to a 9-0 advantage shortly after the opening tip.
It was 33-29 when John Gamble (18 points, 7 boards) nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner with 4:41 left in the third, but Schmitz took over down the stretch with a traditional three-point play, a putback and a jumper (with a friendly bounce) that made it 57-42 with 2:24 left in the game.
His previous high was 11 against Lemon Bay on Jan. 24, followed one night later by 10 against North Port.
“Coach Mike came out with great sets to get me the ball, and I just executed,” Schmitz said. “Everything was going my way tonight. I could not complain.
“We had a pretty good week of practice, we were focused and had a great game plan that got me excited for the game.”
Three other Tarpons were in double figures, including junior Chris Cornish (11 points, 11 rebounds) and sophomore Jordan Attia (11 points, 3 assists). But Williams confirmed that his big man was the biggest part of the game plan.
“I thought we could do a great job of scoring around the basket,” he said. “We were bigger and a little bit more physical than (Largo). We can get Kirby the ball down there, but tonight he finished around the basket. Chris finished around the basket, too.”
Even as he struggled to fill a scoring role during Charlotte’s difficult early schedule, though, Schmitz has been a spark plug from Day 1.
“He’s a momentum guy, he’s an energy guy,” Williams said. “That’s what he is. He moved here from Iowa and became an instant Tarpon overnight. Fan favorite, everything.
− Donnie Wilkie, correspondent
Class 7A-Region 3
Winter Haven 81, Riverview 66
WINTER HAVEN - Winter Haven's Isaac Celiscar said it was just a matter of the Blue Devils finding their rhythm. Once it did, it hardly was music to Riverview's ears.
Trailing by one point late in the first half, Winter Haven scored nine consecutive points to end the half then ran the Rams off the court in the third quarter en route to an 81-66 victory on Thursday night in the Class 7A-Region 3 quarterfinals at the Jack Deedrick Gymnasium.
Winter Haven (24-4) will play Tampa Plant (19-10) at home at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Riverview (10-18) was overmatched by Winter Haven's size and talent. The Blue Devils, however, started sluggish, settled outside shot and didn't have its usual strong ball movement. The Rams took advantage by staying close.
Jamie Phillips Jr's 3-pointer to end the first quarter gave Winter Haven a 3-point lead after one quarter. However, Riverview stayed close and Cole Coggins' 3-pointer put Riverview up 27-25.
Riverview still led 29-28 with about two minutes left in the half when Winter Haven came to life.
Winter Haven forced four late turnovers, which allowed them to run the court. Back-to-back baskets by Isaac Celiscar and a three-point play starked the Blue Devils' 9-0 to end the half with Winter Haven leading, 37-29.
"We helped them with that," Riverview coach Kendall Ellis said. "We had six turnovers in the first half, and four in the last 90 seconds. A team that good and with that much talent, they don't need any help. They're hard enough to beat when you can play perfect."
Phillips opened the second half with a field goal, and Winter Haven exploded for 34 points in the quarter, nearly double Riverview's 18 points.
"We started put slow and underestimated them, but we picked it up," Phillips said.
Winter Haven's largest lead was 32 points, 77-45, and the Blue Devils went deep into its bench for the final four minutes of the game.
Jason Jackson led Riverview with 23 points, and sophomore Rys Gamble scored 11 points.
− Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger
REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS
Class 2A-Region 3
Saint Stephen's 65, Admiral Farragut 61
Class 3A-Region 3
Tampa Catholic 81, Bradenton Christian 52
Class 4A-Region 3
Gateway 65, Lemon Bay 52
Class 5A-Region 3
Southeast 61, Port Charlotte 59
Class 6A-Region 3
Palmetto 74, Leto 69
Charlotte 64, Largo 56
Class 7A-Region 3
Winter Haven 81, Riverview 66
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
7 p.m. Tuesday
6A-3
Palmetto (8) at Charlotte (4)
5A-3
Southeast (3) at St. Petersburg (2)
2A-3
Saint Stephen's (3) at St. Petersburg Canterbury (2)
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Palmetto also among 4 teams reach Florida boys basketball region semis
