Bradenton Christian’s season ends in regional final

ORLANDO — When it was all said and done, Bradenton Christian ran into a team that had too much of everything and knew how to use its weapons.

It means the Panthers will have to cancel plans for next week’s Class 1A state final four boys basketball tournament.

Bradenton Christian (27-4) saw its season end 83-59 on Saturday night courtesy of two-time defending Class 1A state champion Orlando Christian Prep, which showed why many people think it could be the best team in Florida.

Long, lean and athletic, the host Warriors (26-4) used a 1-3-1 half-court trap in the second quarter to score 17 unanswered points and put the Panthers in a hole they could never climb out of in their Class 1A-Region 2 championship game.

Bradenton Christian went ahead 16-15 for the last time on a 3-pointer by Jordan Negrin with 5:57 left in the second period. OCP went to its trap using its big men on top near half court, and it threw the Panthers off their game.

Bradenton Christian did not hit a field goal the rest of the period and committed four turnovers while missing six shots. While the Panthers were struggling, OCP went on a roll, connecting on six straight field goal attempts and was perfect on five free throw attempts to go ahead 32-16.

“It’s been one of our better defenses all year, and tonight it worked,” OCP head coach Reggie Kohn said. “With their two guards being kind of small, we thought hopefully it would work. We try a lot of defenses and fortunately that one worked for us, and we got some turnovers and some steals. But their guards are really good and got us into a lot of foul trouble.”

Bradenton Christian trailed 37-19 at halftime but opened the second half with seven straight points to cut its deficit to 37-26 less than 1:30 into the third. Jordan Negrin scored five in the spurt, and backcourt mate Jon Negrin got a layup on a fast break.

OCP responded with two mid-range jumpers by Josh Castellanos, who finished with 17 points, and then pushed the lead up to 43-26. Two straight baskets by Michael Frey and a trey by Jon Negrin brought BC to within 10 at 45-35 with 2:10 left in the third period, but that was the closest the Panthers could get.

“We prepared for that 1-3-1, but it’s a lot different preparing for it in our gym and then going against it here,” Bradenton Christian head coach Dave Magley said. “They are a great team and are well coached, and there is a reason they are two-time defending state champions. We just ran into a buzz saw.”

In the game-defining second quarter, BCS hit only one field goal on nine attempts. The Panthers shot 3 for 17 in the first half with only six rebounds while OCP was 12 for 24 from the field over the first two quarters.

Bradenton Christian outscored OCP 20-17 in the third, connecting on 7 of 14 shots, but the Panthers were outrebounded 11-6, and the Warriors grabbed six offensive rebounds, which enabled them to get four baskets on put-backs and two others on layups.

“We won the third quarter, but when you dig that deep a hole, you need a lot of breaks,” Magley said. “You can’t afford to make many mistakes, and we weren’t prepared to be perfect.”

Jordan Negrin led all scorers with 30 points, and Jon Negrin chipped in 11. They were the only scorers in double figures for BCS. Michael Frey added nine points and seven rebounds. Brian Cobb led BCS on the boards with eight rebounds, and Daniel Magley had five points and five rebounds.

With the exception of the third quarter, BCS struggled from the field, hitting only 7 of 37 shots. OCP was 30 of 45 from the field, and 21 of its field goals were either layups or put-backs. They had four players in double figures; Adonis Burbage (18), Isaac Cohen (16) and 6-8 Orlando Parker (10) to go along with Castellanos. Parker also had eight rebounds.