PALMETTO -- Reggie Bellamy calls it the Balboa Syndrome.
Balboa being Rocky Balboa, the fictitious boxing champion known for never quitting regardless of how bleak things looked.
Bellamy feels the same way about his Palmetto Tigers.
“They will not die,” Bellamy said. “They will not let go. It looks a little crazy every now and then, but they find a way to make some things happen.”
The Tigers made enough things happen Thursday, when they erased a nine-point deficit and defeated Dover Strawberry Crest 59-56 in a Class 6A-Region 3 boys basketball quarterfinal.
Palmetto (15-12) heads to Tampa Sickles at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a region semifinal. The Gryphons defeated Lakewood Ranch 57-32 on Thursday.
The Tigers didn’t take their first lead until Shaq Harris’ layup made the score 39-38 with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter, and even that was short-lived, as the Chargers’ Spencer Mathis buried a 3-pointer less than 40 seconds later.
But as its coach said, Palmetto kept clawing back and delivered the equivalent of a knockout blow when Jordan Smith canned a pull-up 3-pointer with 3:06 left in the game to snap a 56-56 tie.
Smith, who was battling an ankle sprain, finished with 23 points and eight rebounds. But his best shooting may have come during the first quarter, when he hit three of four 3-point attempts and kept Strawberry Crests’s lead to 23-14.
The Chargers (18-11) were 8-of-9 from the field during the opening period, but 13-of-44 (30 percent) the rest of the way.
“We’re scrappy,” said Smith, a senior shooting guard. “We just come together.”
Strawberry Crest didn’t go away, however, thanks to senior Brandon Channer, who had 27 points and 18 rebounds and scored 11 of the Chargers’ 21 second-half points.
But he missed a runner in the lane with just more than 10 seconds left and the Tigers leading 58-56. Palmetto’s Stevon Saunders came down with the rebound, drew a foul and made one of two three throws to stretch the lead to three.
The Chargers had one final chance, but Palmetto never let Malik Channer (11 points) get a clear shot from beyond the arc, and his long 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good.
“We just upped our game and played as a team,” said Palmetto point guard T.J. Mann, who had 11 points and 11 assists. “We knew they were bigger than us and we had to have a fast-paced game. And we just came in and got the job done.”
Harris had 11 points and eight rebounds for Palmetto.
“We’re trying to go all the way, to be honest,” Smith said. “Everyone’s just got to play together and play defense. Scoring is a given.”
