During the regular season, the P.K. Yonge boys basketball team had beaten Oak Hall School by an average margin of victory of 28 points in the two meetings, including a 79-41 win at OHS on Dec. 22.
But there’s that saying that it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season.
On Thursday night, it certainly looked that way early, and then late, but the host Blue Wave held on for a 71-60 win to sweep the Eagles in a FHSAA Class 2A-District 2 Semifinal.
“That’s a tough team, very well coached team,” said 2nd-year P.K. Yonge coach Willie Powers III. “We did a lot of scouting coming into this game. We knew this wasn’t the same team we played the first two games. They’ve had a very good ending of the season and they’ve been hot, so we knew we couldn’t come in and overlook them, or we would have been ending our season tonight.”
There were four ties in the first 5:30 of the game, but after a layup by OHS junior Amari Ray (15 points) to tie it at 8-apiece, P.K. Yonge sophomore Willie Spain (8 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the left wing in a 34-second span to give the Blue Wave a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“Those were huge,” said Powers, who will play for his second straight district title and the school’s fourth consecutive. “A lot of teams are going to lock in on Jayden (Harriott), DC (Decedric Sowell) and Gene (Eugene Hall), so it’s always huge when we get contributions from people off the bench. We trust Willie to shoot the ball. He shoots the ball well in practice, so it’s not anything we haven’t seen, but they were big tonight.”
From there, No. 4 seed OHS only got as close as three, 23-20, on a pair of free throws by sophomore Correy Brooks (10 points) with 1:59 to play in the half.
The top seed Blue Wave (11-13) went on a 7-0 run over the final 37 seconds of the third quarter and took their largest lead at 55-35 as senior guard Jarvis Cook Jr. (team-high 13 points) went coast-to-coast for a layup with a second left on the clock.
“PK is really physical and really athletic, and I thought they made plays when they had to, and unfortunately we didn’t,” said 2nd-year OHS coach Ché Roth. “We didn’t make enough plays, and you know, that’s what happens in a one game playoff. It’s who’s better that day, and tonight they were better.”
But the Eagles didn’t give up.
After P.K. Yonge scored 25 points in the third quarter, OHS answered with 25 of their own in the final period.
Freshman Cash Roth (9 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers off the bench and sophomore Max Whitmer scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to get back in the game.
Whitmer’s layup got it to single digits, 62-53, with 2:30 remaining.
“He can really shoot the ball,” Roth said. “They pushed him out on the floor a little bit where it took him a while to kind of find his groove, but he’s a relentless competitor.”
But the final field goal of the night by PKY proved to be the dagger as sophomore Collin Meyer (11 points) drained a 3-pointer in the right corner to extend the lead back to double digits, 65-53, with 2:05 left.
“Yeah, that was a big time shot,” Powers said. “Soon as he threw it to him, I started to say pull it out, but he looked confident, so he let it ride, and luckily it went in for us.”
Following Meyer’s 3-pointer, P.K. Yonge, which made 21-of-31 free throws, made six free throws in a row for the final margin of victory, ending the Eagles’ season at 13-11.
“We took a big step forward,” Roth said. “We stretched our schedule, which we’re going to continue to do as long as I’m there, we want to play better competition. We built around youth. I think the kids answered the bell this year and changed the trajectory of our program, and I loved every second I got to spend with them. I’m really excited for our future, because our ceiling is limitless.”
Hall added 12 points and Sowell scored 10 for P.K. Yonge, which will host No. 3 seed Trinity Catholic (Ocala) at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the championship game.
The Celtics (14-11) eliminated No. 2 seed Saint Francis Catholic Academy, 42-38, in the other district semifinal.
“I’ve watched a little film on them, another very well coached team, and they’re going to play hard,” said Powers said. “They have size, athleticism…anytime you have a chance to win a championship, that’s an accomplishment, and we’ll be ready on Saturday.”
FHSAA Boys Basketball
Scores (district semifinals) – Thursday, Feb. 5
Rural Class-District 5 at higher seed
1 Hilliard 75, 4 Madison County 48
3 Branford 59, 2 Hamilton County (Jasper) 48
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
3 Branford at 1 Hilliard
Rural Class-District 6 at higher seed
1 Trenton 72, 4 Taylor County (Perry) 34
2 Union County (Lake Butler) 49, 3 Fort White 33
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
2 Union County (Lake Butler) at 1 Trenton
Rural Class-District 7 at higher seed
4 Chiefland at 1 Wildwood, 7 p.m.
3 Hawthorne at 2 Williston, 7 p.m.
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
TBD
Class 1A-District 4 at higher seed
3 Countryside Christian 71, 2 Cornerstone Academy 62
1 Meadowbrook Academy (Ocala) 56, 5 St. John Lutheran (Ocala) 38
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
3 Countryside Christian at 1 Meadowbrook Academy (Ocala)
Class 2A-District 2 at higher seed
1 P.K. Yonge 71, 4 Oak Hall 60
3 Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 42, 2 Saint Francis Catholic Academy 38
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
3 Trinity Catholic (Ocala) at 1 P.K. Yonge, 6 p.m.
Class 3A-District 2 at higher seed
1 Florida High (Tallahassee) 83, 4 Gadsden County (Havana) 64
3 Marianna 55, 2 Suwannee (Live Oak) 48
Class 3A-District 3 at higher seed
4 Palatka at 1 Newberry, 7 p.m.
3 Baldwin at 2 Bradford (Starke), 7 p.m.
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
TBD, 6 p.m.
Class 4A-District 5 at higher seed
2 Eastside 58, 3 Lake Weir (Ocala) 54
1 North Marion (Citra) 67, 4 Santa Fe (Alachua) 45
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
2 Eastside a 1 North Marion (Citra)
Class 5A-District 2 at higher seed
4 Gainesville 52, 1 Lincoln (Tallahassee) 47
3 Leon (Tallahassee) 56, 2 Columbia (Lake City) 41
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
4 Gainesville at 3 Leon (Tallahassee)
Class 6A-District 3 at Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine)
2 Buchholz 54, 3 Forest (Ocala) 50
1 Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) 44, 5 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) 30
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 7
2 Buchholz at 1 Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine)
GIRLS SOCCER
Class 5A-Region 2 Quarterfinal
2 Innovation (Orlando) 4, 7 Gainesville 0
