Top Performances: Day 5 of State Tournament (7A-9A) – Part II
The semifinals for Class 7A, 8A and 9A were held Friday at the 2019 Boys State Basketball Tournament in Lakeland. Here are Friday’s final scores and Saturday’s schedule from RP Funding Center: 9A semifinals Wellington 50, Orlando Evans 32 Kissimmee…
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Continue ReadingThe semifinals for Class 7A, 8A and 9A were held Friday at the 2019 Boys State Basketball Tournament in Lakeland.
Here are Friday’s final scores and Saturday’s schedule from RP Funding Center:
9A semifinals
Wellington 50, Orlando Evans 32
Kissimmee Osceola 62, South Miami 54
9A championship
Saturday, 7 p.m.: Wellington vs. Osceola
8A semifinals
Bradenton Lakewood Ranch 60, Orange Park Fleming Island 38
Pompano Beach Blanche Ely 56, Windermere 54
8A championship
Saturday, 4:30: Ely vs. Lakewood Ranch
7A semifinals
Crestview 74, Lehigh 50
Fort Lauderdale Dillard 47, Tampa Hillsborough 44 (OT)
7A championship
Saturday, 2 p.m.: Dillard vs. Crestview
Here are some of Friday’s top performers at the Boys State Basketball Tournament:
Malachi Hazelton (Blanche Ely)
The muscular 6-foot-5, 210-pound power forward drilled the game-winning points with two huge free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining. Hazelton’s free throws marked the first time Ely had led the entire game.
“I was trying to draw a foul,” said Hazelton, of the critical possession with the game tied 54-all. Hazelton finished with a team-high 14 points and 8 rebounds. He played just 4 1/2 minutes in the first half, before doing all of his damage in the second half. The junior is very animated, physical and tough to stop when driving to the basket. He connected on 5 of 10 shots from the field and also had 2 steals. I would expect his recruitment to blossom over the summer.
Tyrecke Francois (Blanche Ely)
The 5-11 junior guard spearheaded a furious second-half rally by Ely, which trailed second-year Windermere by as much as 15 points. Francois hit two big 3s to get the Tigers’ rally going.
Francois finished 4 for 8 from 3-point range for 12 points. “The second half they really got after us and we succumbed to the pressure,” Windermere coach Mark Griseck said. Ely connected on 11 3s in the 8A semifinal. 2022 Colby King has given Ely a boost since coming up from JV at the end of the season. He added 9 points for the Tigers.
Isaiah Palermo, Diwun Black (Kissimmee Osceola)
Palermo and Black led an impressive balanced attack in a semifinal victory over South Miami. The 6-5 Palermo (2019) had 16 points and 3 steals while Black — also a 6-5 senior — added 15 points and 8 rebounds. The Kowboys (25-6) have won 14 in a row since mid-January. Osceola held the Cobras to 0-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. Josh Marte (5-8/2019) had 14 points and 3 assists, while Jaduhkiss Soto (6-6/2019) had 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Elliott Yorke (Windermere)
Yorke came off the bench to lead Windermere with 17 points in the loss to Blanche Ely. The 5-11 sophomore guard was 7 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. FGCU 6-8 2019 commit Dakota Rivers added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocks. 6-1 2019 Dante Love scored in double-digits with 12 points. You had to feel for the Windermere (27-5) players in the post-game press conference … they looked stunned. The Warriros shot 19 of 34 but came up short.
DeShawn Bartley (Dillard)
The Panthers senior point guard has been money all season long at the free-throw line. Bartley’s free throw in overtime gave Dillard a two-possession lead it would not relinquish. The 6-foot Bartley finished with 18 points, including 8 of 11 at the free-throw line. He also had 7 rebounds and 2 steals. “You can’t really ask for more for a senior to be here three out of four [years],” Bartley said. Bartley has a scholarship offer from Eastern and interest from Louisiana Tech, Columbia College and Marietta College among others.
Jalen Haynes (Dillard)
The highly-touted junior forward had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in Dillard’s Class 7A semifinal victory. The 6-8 Haynes said it was important to be strong in the paint as the officials were letting them play. Defensively, Haynes helped Dillard hold Hillsborough to a 16-for-51 shooting performance.
Toru Dean (South Miami)
The Barry University guard recruit scored 26 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in the final game of his stellar high school career. Dean shot 13 of 29 from the field. He was first-team All-State as a junior and should repeat. There are a lot of things to like about his game.
Michael Austin & Xavion Lockwood (Hillsborough)
Hillsborough’s starters struggled against Dillard. The Terriers shot 16 of 51 (3 of 17 from 3-point range) and had 20 turnovers. “We chose the wrong time to have a bad game,” Hillsborough coach Chris Ward said. But reserves Austin and Lockwood gave Ward a huge lift off the bench. Austin grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked 3 shots in 13 1/2 minutes; Lockwood pulled down 8 boards. The Terriers’ season ends 28-3.
If you have high school basketball news, you can reach Pat Lammer via text at 954-661-9671.