Bradenton Christian boys basketball is final four bound

BRADENTON -- Before the deafening crowd grew jumpy and before chants of "Final Four" rang out, Bradenton Christian was given the ultimate gift to start Saturday's Class 2A-Region 3 boys basketball final.

The host Panthers were awarded two technical foul shots before a second ran off the clock after Delray Beach Village Academy was dunking during pregame warm-ups.

That's forbidden under Florida High School Athletic Association rules.

And it triggered a quick start that the Panthers used to run past the Tigers, 76-61, en route to the program's first state semifinal appearance in seven years.

"It was a little bit different feel," BCS head coach Scott Townsend said. "I kind of wished we could have just tipped it up and gone. But I'll take the two points."

The Panthers (26-3)

face Tallahassee FAMU in Tuesday's state semifinals at the Lakeland Center in Lakeland at a time to be determined later.

To get there, BCS were boosted by the pregame technical, a rabid fan base that produced the largest crowd of the season -- one that was standing-room only -- and mixed in various offensive sets to take a commanding 10-point lead in the first four minutes of the game.

Then as the Tigers mounted a mini-comeback to trim it to four by the end of the first quarter, Justin Aracena, Jake Lister and Ryan Leunk left little doubt to the outcome with 19 of the Panthers' 22 points in the second quarter.

"Coach always preaches to me, 'Get a rebound, get a rebound and work hard,'" Aracena said. "When I come into the game, my number one job is to work hard and get rebounds."

BCS was up 15 by halftime and never let the lead dip below double digits for the rest of the contest.

""We knew coming into the game, we were going to have to crash the boards and get as many rebounds as we possibly could," Leunk said. "We made sure that it was our goal the last two practices we had that we were really going to make an effort to box out."

The Panthers enjoy an up-tempo offensive style. But Leunk credited the Tigers for slowing them down just a bit.

However, BCS' seasoned roster that features seven seniors among the 12 players prevented any hiccups despite falling below what they typically score off fast breaks.

The tight quarters inside the Panther Den with a packed house creating an intimidating, loud environment also added to the winning BCS recipe as Village Academy committed six turnovers in the first 4 minutes, 44 seconds of the game.

"It really hurt us," Tigers head coach Terrence Atkinson said. "We're not used to playing with that much noise. They did a wonderful job. I saw them wearing shirts that say, 'Sixth Man.' They were definitely the sixth man (Saturday)."

The Panthers saw six players score points Saturday, with Leunk (20 points) leading the way. Other Panthers to reach double figures included Vincent Rehfeldt, who knocked down the two technical foul shots to start the game and had 14 points, Lister (14 points) and Alex Telfair (11 points).

There was also a couple late technical fouls when the Tigers lost their composure. One was for taunting and the other was a hard foul from behind that caused an immediate ejection for junior Roudness Louissaint.

Jason Dill, sports reporter, can be reached at 745-7017 or on Twitter @Jason__Dill and like his Facebook page at Jason Dill Bradenton Herald.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bradenton Christian boys basketball is final four bound ."