Boys basketball regional final roundup

Saturday, February 23, 2013
by Faran Fagen

It took until the fourth quarter for St. Andrew's offense to find its groove on Saturday night in its Class 4A regional final against Berkeley Prep-Tampa.

But that was enough to secure a trip to the Final Four.

The Scots exploded for 16 points in the final eight minutes to win 51-44 and reach the state tournament for the first time since 2006.

"It feels amazing; I dream about it," Scots coach John O'Connell said. "I'm so happy for this group of kids. We reached the state final in '06 and now we're back."

George Andino led all scorers with 16 points, scored six of the Scots' final seven points.

"We worked too hard and we came too far to lose," Andino said. "This is our dream and we get to go on. My teammates trust me - they gave me the ball and I was able to make the plays."

The Buccaneers (22-8) led 44-42 with just under three minutes to play. Andino converted a three-point play and then, after a steal, was fouled and made both free throws.

Jovan Lawson also came up big in the fourth, scoring four points in the first five minutes of the period.

The Scots (23-3) outscored the Bucs 8-5 at the start of the third quarter. Sean Mooney and George Andino each hit three pointers to give St. Andrew's a 33-26 lead -- its largest of the game at that point.

But Berkeley nailed two three-pointers of its own from Eric Reintgen and Marshall Holmes to chip away. The Bucs ended the third quarter with an 8-2 run.

The Scots connected on 6-of-9 shots from the floor in the second quarter to pull ahead 25-21 at the half. Marko Radojicic scored six points in the second period.

Both teams had trouble securing the ball in the first half, especially to start the game. Neither team scored in a three-minute stretch that contained six turnovers until Radojicic's dunk gave the Scots a 4-2 lead.

In the first quarter alone, the Scots committed eight turnovers to the Bucs' six.

St. Andrew's knows it will have to do a better job of handling the ball to move on at the state tournament, which begins Tuesday.

"This is such a special experience for these kids," O'Connell said. "I'm happy for any kid that makes it this far."

Class 8A

Deerfield Beach 72, Jupiter 40: Evan Zabriski scored 10 points with six rebounds, but the Warriors fell to the speedy Bucks (26-4), who have not lost to a Florida team this season. "We ran into a juggernaut tonight," said coach John Andersen. Jupiter finished the season 20-6.

Class 7A

Martin County 62, St. Petersburg 53: The Tigers (26-3) snapped St. Petersburg's seven game winning streak to win in Stuart and advance to state.

Class 2A

Grandview Prep 49, Naples-First Baptist 46: Ivan Canete, who finished with a team high 21 points, scored on a layup with 15 seconds, was fouled and made the ensuing free throw to lift the Pride (28-2) past the Lions (25-3) in Boca Raton .

St. Andrew's(23) Asil Kalkavan makes a shot in the final few seconds of the first half of Saturday night's regional final basketball game against Tamap-Berkeley Prep. (Bruce R. Bennett/The Palm Beach Post)