While Tampa Prep has five state semifinal appearances, Clearwater was making its second. And Cinderella Tampa King was making its first trip to Lakeland for the Final Four.
All left without state titles.
For Tampa Prep, the outcome was particularly cruel. The Terrapins (26-5) fell 58-56 to West Palm Beach Summit Christian in overtime in the Class 2A state semifinal. Tied at 49 at the end of regulation, the teams battled back and forth for the five-minute overtime period.
With 0.4 seconds remaining and the game tied at 56, Tampa Prep’s Jake Haslam was called for a foul on Summit’s Kyle Yong, who was shooting a 3-pointer. The Terrapins could do nothing but watch as Yong sank two of three free throws for the winning margin.
Tampa Prep was led by Jay Bowie’s 21-point, eight-rebound performance. Devontae Morgan added 11 and Jamal Cherry had 10 points and five rebounds for the Terrapins.
For King, a 21-game winning streak heading into the Class 5A state semifinals did it little good. The Lions, who won their first regional playoff game in program history en route to the state Final Four, lost 62-48 to Gainesville.
King saw Gainesville pull away at the game’s onset, going on a 23-10 opening run to set the stage for the rest of the contest. King (23-7) got a combined 31 points from Chauncey Day and Rethell Oliver but it was not enough.
The Lions trailed by 18 points at the half and completed the game with just eight trips to the free throw line.
King standout forward Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, a Georgia Southern signee, finished the game with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Clearwater, meanwhile, did manage to advance past the semifinal round.
Senior guard Regan O’Rourke drained a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining to lift the Tornadoes past Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer 44-43 and move on to the Class 5A championship game.
That set up a championship game featuring the top ranked 5A teams in the state. Clearwater and Gainesville were tied atop the rankings during the final week of the playoffs.
But despite a hard-fought finale, Clearwater (28-3) could not repeat that magic against Gainesville, which beat the Tornadoes 53-46.
Usually a solid offensive team, the Tornadoes struggled out of the gate, scoring only 17 first-half points. The Tornadoes tandem of Okaro White (21 points, eight rebounds) and Julien Sargent (12 points, eight rebounds) led a late charge as Clearwater got back in the game.
An 11-0 run to open the fourth quarter narrowed Gainesville’s lead to 40-38. But it would be as close as Clearwater would get as the Purple Hurricane’s pulled away during the game’s final four minutes.