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Seffner Christian survives double OT to claim district

Tampa Prep was a tougher foe this time around, but the Crusaders prevailed 63-61.
 
Seffner Christian definitely earned this district title, holding off Tampa Prep through double overtime. (CHUCK FRYE | Special to the Times)
Seffner Christian definitely earned this district title, holding off Tampa Prep through double overtime. (CHUCK FRYE | Special to the Times)
Published Feb. 17, 2019

ST. PETERSBURG — Quite simply, this was playoff basketball at its best.

Fighting for the Class 4A, District 4 title Saturday night at St. Petersburg Catholic, top seed Seffner Christian started hot before No. 2 Tampa Prep’s aggressive man-to-man defense turned the tide. Throughout the second half and, what seemed inevitable, overtime play, each possession was a winner-take-all matchup.

And in a second overtime of winning defensive efforts, Seffner mustered the lone offensive opportunity that succeeded from sheer will alone. Sophomore Willie Jones drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner with 20 seconds left and the basket stood up in the Crusaders' 63-61 triumph.

After a made free throw from Jaren Phillips (13 points and 10 rebounds) that put the Terrrapins up 61-60 with 1:28 left, Seffner froze half of the time away before looking to isolate sophomore Mike Trigg at the top of the key.

“We decided to hold the ball for the last shot because we were going to get my opportunity to score,” said Trigg, who had dropped in a game-high 31 points prior.

But Trigg got bodied going to the rack and missed the shot, creating a scramble under the hoop.

Somehow, Trigg got his hand on the ball and nudged it to Jones (20 points on the night).

“Coach (Sam Moorer) told me just to get a shot,” Jones said. “I had to get a shot for my team that would win the game.”

A missed Tampa Prep shot and a Crusader turnover set up the Terrapins for one final opportunity with five seconds left. But a forced corner 3 clanged off the iron and sent the emotional Seffner crowd into a frenzy.

“We were just hoping they don't get the ball inside on a lob or something,” Jones said. “We just had to push them out to the 3-point area.”

“I think that’s our fourth overtime game this year and out second-double OT game,” said Crusaders head coach Sam Moorer. “I can’t help but think that played a part in us being able to sustain our play.”

At first blush, the contest looked like it would mirror Seffner’s 16-point win over the Terrapins from December as 10 points from Trigg got the Crusaders a 19-6 lead seconds into second quarter play. But Tampa Prep (21-7) changed up its defense, got much more physical, held Seffner to one basket over a 4½-minute stretch and ended up taking a 27-25 lead to the halftime locker room behind 10 points from junior Gabriel Sharp (team-high 19 for the night).

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“Our kids competed better as a team than we did (in December),” Tampa Prep coach Joe Fenlon said. “We did a better job of matching (Seffner’s) physicality (Saturday).”

Despite losing Jola Bankole to a third-quarter injury and battling foul trouble, the Terrapins came closest to taking control, grabbing a pair of five-point leads in the fourth quarter behind senior Phillips (13 points) and junior Jaden Gray (10 points), but Seffner (22-6) wouldn’t back down. Trigg’s muscle putback of his own miss at the buzzer sent the contest to extra time.

Each team held the lead in the first OT with Gray draining a free throw with 47.9 seconds left to tie the score again while Trigg’s last-second shot fell off the iron this time, setting the stage for a final four-minute battle won by the Crusaders.

“I think it shows some trust but we have some really good players. They’re much better players than I am as a coach so we play to that,” Moorer said. “We preach that there’s two things you control, your effort and your attitude. If you control that, you give yourself a chance to win. (Saturday) the outcome was in our favor.”

“Even though the end of games are magnified, there’s a lot of plays that happened before that last play that could have made a difference,” said Fenlon, highlighting a tough 18-of-34 stat line from the free-throw stripe. “That’s the hardest thing with high school players is to get them to understand that there are no throwaway possessions. But it’s easy to say from the sidelines, harder when you’re out there trying to make the plays.”

Both squads open 4A region competition Thursday with Seffner hosting Santa Fe Catholic and Tampa Prep traveling to the Master’s Academy.