By:  J. Daniel Pearson

There is little doubt that Riverview forward Josh Harris gave Osceola some trouble Wednesday night, scoring a game-high 32 points.  But there is even less doubt that the Kowboys starting five gave the Rams a whole lot more trouble, running wild during a 102-75 regional playoff win.

The win lifted the Kowboys to 24-3 on the season and they will continue on their playoff journey on Monday night – hosting Tampa Plant in a Class 7A, Region 2 semifinal.  Tip off at Kowboys Gym is 7 p.m.  

Osceola Coach Steve Mason wasn’t sure after the game, but later confirmed that it was Osceola’s first 100-point playoff game in 45 years.  Osceola scored 100 points twice in the playoffs during the 1982-83 season, when that storied Kowboys team went 37-0 and won the state championship.

“I guess that put this team in some pretty exclusive company,” Mason said.  “With 30 years around this program as either a coach or administrator, I’m sort of the unofficial historian of Osceola basketball and I wasn’t sure if we had ever scored a hundred points in a playoff game.”

It was an offensive show by Osceola from the beginning.

After falling behind early 8-3, Osceola rallied behind Luke McCrimon’s 10 first-quarter points to take a 27-19 advantage after one.  And although Harris would keep the Rams in the game by scoring 22 first-half points, Osceola managed to extend the lead at the half, 52-38.

McCrimon had another big quarter with nine points in the stanza and Jordan Mundle capped an 8-2 run by hitting a three-pointer from just inside the half court line to beat the half-court buzzer.  

About the only negative of the half came early in the game when starting forward Jordan Isaac went down with a foot injury at 6:30 mark.  He would get treatment but would not re-enter the game until 2:43 remained in the quarter.  

Although Osceola has a short bench and rarely plays more than seven players in a game, Randy Jean-Charles replaced Isaac and scored four points to go with three rebounds and a block in Isaac’s absence. “We’re not a deep team but I believe we have five starters who can play any position,” Mason said.  “That gives us a lot of versatility to move players around when something like that happens.”  

Osceola would ramp up the pressure on Harris and Riverview in the third quarter.  Although the Rams were able to cut the lead to 10 early in the period, point guard Jordan Mason scored eight straight unanswered points to push the lead back to 18. The Kowboys defense would limit Riverview to just four for 13 shooting in the period to build the lead to 24 points after three, 73-49.

“Harris is a terrific player,” Mason said.  “At halftime we decided we needed to give him some different looks defensively and it did slow him down.”  Osceola limited the 6-4 junior to just three points in the third quarter and nine in the half. 

With two minutes to go and Osceola up 95-70, Mason emptied his bench.  The Osceola starters would erupt from the sideline when reserve Jamari Lamones hit a layup and back-up Desi Lorenzana followed with a three to put Osceola over the 100 mark.

For the game, Osceola placed four players in double figures.  McCrimon finished with a team-high 28 points, Mundle had 23 and Mason and Isaac finished with 17 and 16 respectively.  The fifth starter, Helio Quinlan had five points in the game but added several blocks and big rebounds.

“This is one of the most unselfish teams I have ever been around.  Any one of the starters is a capable of scoring 20 or more a game,” Mason said.  “But no one is ever looking to pad their stats.  They are always looking to find the open man and share the ball.” For the game, Osceola shot a blistering 39 of 62 (62.9%) from the field including 9 of 17 (52.9%) from three point range.  They were 17 for 24 from the charity stripe.

Five other county teams were involved in regional action on Wednesday night.  St. Cloud got 20 points from Malaki Baker, 15 from Josiah Cotto and 14 from Alex Springs, as the #5 seed Bulldogs upset #4 Olympia on the road, 63-49.

Baker, who was held to two points in St. Cloud’s district final loss to Harmony, also had nine rebounds and three blocks in the game.  “They were taller than us at every position, but we played a hard, physical game,” Head Coach Tommy Billiteri said.  “Every time they would go on a run, we would come up with a big basket or big stop.  We displayed a lot of mental toughness tonight.”

It was St. Cloud’s first win at the regional playoff level in school history, pushed them to 24-4 on the season, and will advance  them in a Monday night 7A, Region 2 semifinal against top-seeded Windermere (23-5), which eliminated Harmony, 68-44.  The Longhorns finish their season with a 19-9 record.

In other action, Poinciana’s (16-11)  season came to an end with a 81-58 loss to second-seeded Sarasota (a potential future opponent for Osceola); while Liberty (16-6) lost a heartbreaking 53=51 Class 4A, Region 2 semifinal to Santa Fe and Gateway (11-12) also lost a close two-point game to Auburndale (22-6) in a 5A, Region 2 semifinal, 65-63.

Girls’ regional action takes center stage tonight (Thursday), when St. Cloud (18-8) entertains Oak Ridge (17-9) in a 7A, Region 2 quarterfinal; while Gateway (20-6) travels to Lake Wales (16-8) for a 5A, Region 2 quarterfinal.