Osceola Rolls to 79–45 Win Over Poinciana , Punches Ticket to Boys Basketball Class 7A District 9 Final

By: J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola

As the regular season came to an end and the post-season started, one thing is abundantly clear—the Osceola Kowboys will go as far as their pressing, tenacious defense carries them, a truth they reinforced Thursday night by holding Poinciana to 25 percent shooting and just 25 points over the final three quarters in a dominant 79–45 win, despite playing much of the second half without two key starters.

With the victory, the Kowboys pick up their 20^th win of the season (20-5) and move on to the Class 7A, District 9 championship game. They will host Davenport (13-13), a 45-42 upset winner Thursday night against second-seeded Ridge Community.

Other than trailing briefly in the first quarter against the Eagles, the Kowboys asserted themselves early as Jordan Mason scored eight points and Jahmel Hill added seven in an explosive first quarter. Still Poinciana was able to break Osceola’ s press for some easy buckets, keeping it close, 24-18.

But Osceola would turn on the jets in the second stanza. Mason dropped in eight more, the Kowboys forced six turnovers and limited the Eagles to just one field goal in building a 47-23 lead at intermission.

As a precautionary measure, Osceola coach Steve Mason would remove his son Jordan and starting forward Ryan Rodriguez from the game early in third quarter after both players picked up technical fouls. Rodriguez reacted to hard foul with a shove and Mason was teed up for a demonstrative yell after teammate Jermiah Reid was knocked to the floor.

“In high school basketball, a second technical foul not only leads to an ejection but also could lead to a multi-game suspension,” Coach Mason said. “I really didn’t agree with either call but we had a big lead, so I decided to err on the side of caution, simply because we can not afford to lose either of those players in the post-season.”

The loss of Mason (16 points) and Rodriguez (six points) did not make a difference as senior co-captain Luke Mccrimon took over. He scored six of his game-high 20 points in the third as Osceola won the quarter 19-15 and took a 28-point lead into the fourth.

Mason emptied his bench and midway through the period Osceola extended the lead to 35 – resulting in a running clock.

Overall, the numbers were staggering in the Kowboys favor.

The team shot just under 50% from the floor (33 of 67) and 91 percent from the line (11 of 12); while limiting Poinciana to just seven field goals over the final three quarters.

Jordan Sykles led the Eagles (9-12) with 14 points in a game that was delayed nearly an hour when a scheduling foul up resulted in the officials showing up late.

In other district action on Thursday, top-seeded St. Cloud advanced to the Class 7A, District 6 championship with a 58-53 win over Tohopekaliga. The Bulldogs will face second-seeded Lake Nona, who dispatched Harmony (11-15) in the other semifinal. Although St. Cloud is the top seed, they will play for the championship on the Lions (12-13) home court, as the district designated Lake Nona as the neutral site for the tournament.

Liberty will also play for a district title. The second-seeded Chargers blew out Hardee, 91-59, on Thursday and will play top-seeded Bishop Moore (14-12) at 3 p.m. Saturday night for the 4A, District 7 title.

Osceola County will have at least one district girls champion and possibly three when championship games are contested tonight. The big game will take place at Gateway, where the Lady Panthers (22-3) will host New Smyrna Beach (17-7) for the 5A, District 7 crown.

Both teams are ranked high in the state, with the Panthers number 3 in the state in 5A and NSB fifth. Although the loser will grab an at-large spot in regionals, the game is vital for both — as the winner will most liked secure home court advantage through all three rounds of regionals.

The Poinciana Lady Eagles (12-10) can punch their ticket to regionals if they can upset Haines City (14-7) tomorrow in the Class 7A, District 9 championship game. It will be a tall order for the Eagles, who lost a late-season 68-22 game to Haines City last month.

The county will have at least one girls district champion as top-seeded Harmony (17-5) faces Tohopekaliga (14-3) at neutral site St. Cloud at 7 p.m. for the 7A, District 9 title. Although the Longhorns defeated Tohopekaliga earlier in the season (45-28), Harmony coach Paul Strauch is taking nothing for granted. “That game was a lot closer than the final score indicated,” he said. “We will have to be on our game to advance.”

Basketball District Tournaments

Schedules and Scoreboard For Osceola County Teams

Boys Class 7A, District 9

Quarterfinals (Feb. 3)

Poinciana 64, Celebration 58

Semifinals (Feb. 5)

Osceola 79, Poinciana 45

Davenport 45, Ridge Community 43

Championship (Feb. 7)

Devenport at Osceola, 7 p.m.

Boys Class 7A, District 6

Quarterfinals (Feb. 3)