JACKSONVILLE – It was all right there, an unexpected mix of Hoop Dreams and Hoosiers – with a pinch of Space Jam thrown in, if you care to compare four-time defending champion Miami Columbus to those dreaded Monstars.
Sarasota High had the basketball and a chance to win a Class 7A trophy. Three times, actually.
But state-title games don’t always end like the movies. The Sailors’ Jimmy Chitwood-in-waiting – junior guard Johnny Lackaff – missed a contested 3-pointer from the left corner in the waning seconds, and the heavily-favored Explorers (26-6) held on for a 53-50 victory Saturday at UNF Arena, earning an unprecedented fifth consecutive banner.
Sarasota, which opened in 1913, was playing in a state-title game for the first time in the 104-year history of the FHSAA boys basketball playoffs, and trying to become Sarasota County’s first state champion since Booker claimed its fourth crown in 2006.
“Only us in the locker room believed in us,” Lackaff said. “That’s the truth. We believed we could win, and we sure had a shot. We had a real chance.”
That they did.
Cello Jackson’s two free throws gave Columbus a 50-48 lead with 1:39 remaining. He sank another with 29.7 seconds to play, after a Sailors turnover, and teammate Felipe Quinones (15 points) knocked away a pass 16 seconds later to seemingly seal the game.
But Cayden Gaskins (11 points, seven rebounds) drew a technical foul in the celebration, so Quinones’ two free throws were immediately answered by Lackaff’s two at the other end – and Sarasota had the ball with 13.6 on the clock.
That’s when the 6-foot-3 Lackaff rose from the left corner, a tie game and perhaps an overtime within his telescopic sight.
“I’ve seen that kid make those kind of contested shots several times this year,” said Sarasota coach B.J. Ivey. “So I believed he was going to knock it down.”
Instead, it was short.
“We drew up for me to curl into a screen the screener in the corner,” Lackaff said. “I was contested. I tried to pump-fake, but they didn’t fall for it. I had to shoot it.
“I just want a do-over, almost. That last possession. A couple of those free throws I missed early. Man, if I make those, maybe we’re up by one.”
Of course, Lackaff’s 27 points, four rebounds, and three steals, highlighted by five 3-pointers that kept Sarasota within striking distance, were the reasons all of the impossible suddenly seemed so possible: The long-distance trey that pulled the Sailors (25-7) within 32-30 early in the third quarter. The step-back three that provided the perfect response when they trailed 37-31. The old-fashioned, three-point play that finally pulled them even at 43-all with 5:49 remaining.
“From the very beginning, I thought we had a shot,” said 6-7 senior David Young (seven points, three rebounds). “I know (Columbus is) good, but they’re not unbeatable. I’ve enjoyed every moment with these guys, but I’m sad we couldn’t go all the way, finish it out.”
Added 6-8 senior Sam Reindel: “We didn’t close out the game like we should have.”
The only person not wearing orange who believed an upset was possible seemed to be Columbus coach Jorge Milo, in his first season after Andrew Moran – with significant help from Duke freshmen Cameron and Cayden Boozer, along with McDonald’s All-American Jaxon Richardson – guided the Explorers to four state championships and last year’s consensus national title.
“(Sarasota) made the Final Four last year and that group has been together for awhile,” he said. “They’re very well coached, and it’s a group of guys who are very well connected. In a one-game series like this, it’s a toss-up. I respect them a lot.”
Milo’s team won the rebounding battle 33-19, with Jordan Fisher grabbing eight and Caleb Gaskins (12 points) adding six. Isaiah Jenkins (7 points) led the Sailors with six boards.
Sarasota bolted to a 10-5 lead in the game’s opening 3:58, capped by Young’s dunk off a steal by Lackaff. But the Sailors played from behind most of the day after Columbus closed the first quarter on an 11-3 run.
Lackaff started feeling his rhythm after a pair of 3-pointers from the right wing – the second giving Sarasota a short-lived 19-18 advantage, its last lead of the game. The Sailors’ largest deficit was 27-19, and Lackaff quickly solved that with a steal and his third trey, just before halftime.
“We had our opportunities,” said Ivey, who is 98-19 in four seasons leading the Sailors. “I know a lot of people didn’t give us much of a chance, but we battled. We competed.
“We said if we could go into halftime with a lead or keep it within a couple possessions, we were going to win the game. I kept reminding our guys of that throughout the third and fourth quarters. ‘This is right where we said we were going to be. We knew this was going to happen. We’re going to have our chances.’ ”
Sarasota went 6-3 without Lackaff (calf) during a four-week stretch in January, after a 12-3 start that included late-December wins over 4A state champion Riviera Beach Suncoast and 5A runner-up Fleming Island in the Kingdom of the Sun Invitational in Ocala. Those breakthroughs helped propel the Sailors to a fifth Final Four and a victory over Orlando Oak Ridge, their school’s first semifinal win.
“Anything’s possible when you work, you stick with your process, and you believe in it,” Ivey said. “Anything is possible. I think we’ve shown that.”
Reindel, a transfer from Cardinal Mooney, echoed those sentiments. “I’m so glad I did it with this group of guys. It’s the best group I’ve had.”
And what did Ivey tell his seniors afterwards?
“I just reminded them how much I love them. Love is a choice. You’ve got to choose to love your teammates, to love others. It’s been such a pleasure to coach those guys.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota falls just short in state title game vs. national power Columbus
Reporting by Donnie Wilkie, Special to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
