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Region boys basketball: Lehigh 61, Largo 59

 
Published Feb. 25, 2017

LEHIGH ACRES — With every Largo shot that drew iron — and there were plenty — Lehigh coach Greg Coleman waited and waited for his team to break open the Friday's Class 7A region final. The big run to push the lead into double digits never came.

Instead the Lightning had to work until the final buzzer to punch the program's first ticket to the state final four.

Bershard Edwards floated a lob to a wide-open Quan Martin with four seconds remaining, and Trevor Scudder came up with a huge block right before the buzzer to push Lehigh (21-9) to a 61-59 win over Largo (19-8).

"I just can't believe this. I've never felt like this," said Edwards, who finished with 12 points. "We're going to go up there (Lakeland) and do our best to represent Lee County."

With the score tied at 59 with 12 seconds remaining and Lehigh inbounding the ball at half court, Edwards had to adjust to the Largo defense and abandon the original play Coleman drew up during the timeout. He kept his head up 40 feet away from the basket and saw the Packers forgot about Martin.

"He's just a great point guard," Martin said of Edwards. "He found me and I just had to finish."

Martin's layup forced Largo to call timeout with four seconds left. Packers junior guard Zhahidi Robinson pushed the ball down the floor and passed to Nirobi Peeler in the corner for a good look at a 3-pointer until Scudder flew past him, getting a hand on the shot.

Lehigh led the 2016 Class 7A state finalist by nine with three minutes to go in the third thanks to a flurry of missed Largo shots throughout the game. The Packers found ways to penetrate and find their big men, Bobby Roundtree and Isaiah Bellamy, in the paint, but had problems finishing.

"They win ugly," Coleman said "… They know how to win their way and they made us play their way."

By the start of the fourth the Packers trailed by two. They led 51-48 with three minutes left before Martin buried a 3 to tie it.

Robinson made it 57-56 Largo with 1:59 left and Lehigh answered when Odilio Ruiz found Scudder slashing to the rim.

Peeler's pull-up jumper in the lane tied the score at 59 with 39 seconds left.

After Edwards missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Largo's Julian Cooney was called for a travel in the back court, giving the ball back to Lehigh and setting up Edwards' lob to Martin.