High school basketball: MDCA rallies in fourth quarter to beat South Lake in boys basketball

MOUNT DORA — The Mount Dora Christian Academy and South Lake High School boys basketball teams weren’t expecting a repeat of their first game a month ago, a 29-point win for MDCA.

Good thing.

As it turned out, the only thing the first had in common with Friday’s rematch was that it resulted in the Bulldogs victory.

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Reggie Virgil blocked a potential game-winning shot and then sank 1-of-2 free throws with six seconds to play to lift MDCA to a 56-55 come-from-behind win against the Eagles at Brackett Gymnasium. With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 18-1 on the season, while South Lake fell to 10-5.

“South Lake outplayed us tonight,” said MDCA coach Steven Hayes. “They punched us in the mouth and we stopped playing. But, when we were down, our guys found ways to get going against a good basketball team. That’s what I’m most proud of.

“We have to find a way to play 32 minutes, not 16 or 18.”

MDCA overcame a scoring drought of nearly eight minutes and weathered a 19-0 scoring run by the Eagles in the second half that transformed a 40-30 lead early in the third quarter into a 49-40 deficit early in the fourth.

The Bulldogs woke up when K.J. Rodriguez drained a 3-pointer — he finished with six triples in the game — and Virgil converted a turnover into a dunk. Another basket by Virgil, who had been limited to only two points through the first three quarters, cut the Eagles advantage to 49-47 in less than a minutes.

And it was game on for the final five minutes.

“We stopped running our stuff,” said Hayes. “It’s been too easy for us lately. We haven’t had to play 32 minutes to win games the last couple of weeks and you can’t usually do that and beat good teams — and South Lake is a very good team.”

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After weathering MDCA’s run to get back into the game and take a 50-49 lead, South Lake scored six unanswered point to seemingly regain control of the contest. A layup off the glass by Marvin Windom with 1 minutes, 10 seconds to play, gave the Eagles a 55-50 advantage.

Once again, Rodriguez provided a spark on the ensuing possession with his final 3 pointer of the game to cut deficit to two with a minute to play. With 25 seconds left, Isaiah Bryant scored to tie the game.

South Lake inbounded from half court following a timeout and Julian Borrero worked the ball to Windom on the bench-side sideline. Windom drove the baseline, similar to his previous basket, but Virgil was there to meet him and stuffed the attempt.

He was then fouled af grabbing the rebound.

Virgil sank his first charity shot — the eventual game winner — but, missed the second. South Lake knocked the ball out of bounds, giving the Bulldogs possession with four seconds to play.

However, the Bulldogs were whistled for a five-second inbound violation, giving the ball back to South Lake for a final opportunity.

Borrero worked the ball the length of the floor and got it to Braden White, who had three triples in the game, but his shot failed to fall.

In all, three were three ties and eight lead changes. MDCA led by as many as 10 points, while South Lake’s largest advantage was nine.

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MDCA’s Kevin Frederick led all scorers with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Rodriguez had 18 and Virgil dropped in 10 points, eight of which came in the furious fourth quarter.

For South Lake, Hunter Shaw led the way with 17 points, followed by Borrero with 12 and Windom with eight points, all of which came in the second half.

The teams combined to sink 16 shots from behind the arc. MDCA drained 11 from long range — Rodriguez with six, followed by Frederick (four) and Virgil (one) — while South finished with five — three by White, an one each from Borrero and Shaw.

Next up for South Lake is another trip to Mount Dora at 7 p.m. Tuesday, this time to face Mount Dora High School. The Eagles also will travel to Lake Minneola Friday, in a rematch of last month’s 69-61 win, the first victory for South Lake against the Hawks.

The Bulldogs will host Winter Garden Foundation at 7 p.m. Tuesday and will play back-to-back games Friday and Saturday against St. Petersburg Canterbury and Daytona Beach Father Lopez, respectively, at Brackett Gymnasium.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Boys basketball: Mount Dora Christian Academy defeats South Lake