Boys basketball | St. Petersburg uses massive size advantage to rally past Lakewood Ranch in Class 7A-Region 3 final
ST. PETERSBURG -- Jeremy Schiller didn't concern himself with much of an individual film study ahead of Lakewood Ranch's Class 7A-Region 3 final against St. Petersburg. Years of coaching in Florida at the high school, college and AAU level made him familiar with the Green Devils' college-bound stars.
When someone asked Schiller about his team's postseason trip to St. Petersburg, his response was concise.
"They're bigger than us and more athletic than us at every position," he'd say, "but we can win."
And if it wasn't for an uncharacteristic performance at the free throw line, a rebound margin of 30 and a 32-point eruption for St. Pete during the third quarter, the Mustangs may have scored a program-defining upset. Instead, Ranch's season ended after the best run in school history with an 83-77 loss to SPHS at St. Petersburg High School.
"I think our guys are just as good," Schiller said. "They're just a little bit shorter."
The Green Devils (26-6) pounded Lakewood Ranch on the glass collecting 55 rebounds. Their 25 offensive rebounds were as many as the Mustangs had in total and by gathering those on 43 misses they posted an astonishing 58.1 offensive rebound percentage.
One St. Pete guard, sophomore Serrel Smith, is 6-foot-3 -- taller than all but two of Ranch's rotation players. Another guard, junior Darius Banks, is 6-foot-6 -- the same height as Lakewood Ranch's de facto starting center Jack Muscara. A third, senior Travis Bianco, is 6-foot-6 and fits the same description as Smith. Throw in 6-7 and 6-8 rotation players hovering around the paint for SPHS and the weakness for the Mustangs was obvious. For 16 minutes, though, it didn't matter.
Ranch wing Evan Spiller ended the first quarter with a last-second layup to give Lakewood Ranch an 18-17 lead and the Mustangs didn't trail again into the third quarter. Junior guard Damien Gordon went into the half with 11 points and Ranch held a 39-32 lead.
"We knew at some point in the game it was going to get intense," point guard Devin Twenty said. "We just tried to dig in and dig in to see if we could make them stop."
The next eight minutes were an onslaught. The Green Devils opened the third on a 11-5 run to retake the lead at 45-44 and their lead ballooned to double digits by the end of the frame. Banks, a three-star prospect in 247sports' composite rankings, scored 15 of the 32 points St. Pete used to double its first-half total during the third quarter and finished the evening with a game-high 25 points.
Smith added 24 points and Bianco, who drew D-I interest before committing to a Division II school, scored 16, including a poster dunk in the final seconds of the third quarter to punctuate SPHS' outburst with pandemonium in the sold-out Devil's Den bleachers.
"They're a great team, they have great players, but I definitely felt like there was the advantage of being on a home court," Schiller said. "They felt a little comfortable."
Glenn Miller and AJ Ford were the issue for Lakewood Ranch on the glass, finishing with 14 and 12 rebounds, respectively.
Twenty led the Mustangs in all three major categories with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. Gordon added 16 and junior guard Sam Hester finished with 15.
Even with the dozens of extra possessions for the Green Devils, it was a two-possession game in the final two minutes. With 1:17 remaining, Brock Sisson hit a 3-pointer to cut St. Pete's lead to 76-70. The guard got a steal on the Ranch press and drew a foul.
He missed both free throws.
Thirty seconds later, Hester scored an and-one to bring SPHS' lead to 78-72 with 45 seconds left. He missed the and-one free throw.
Twenty drilled a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to bring Lakewood Ranch within four before Bianco hit two free throws to ice St. Petersburg's win.
The Mustangs shot 48 percent from the stripe--17 points lower than their season average of 65 percent. The Green Devils' combination of size, athleticism and talent left little margin of error for Ranch on the road, so now St. Pete advances to face Tallahasse Lincoln in the state semifinals.
"These kids are in there crying because they knew that they had an opportunity to win a regional championship," Schiller said. "They're not crying because they're disappointed, although they are because they believed in it. They're crying because they knew 100 percent they had an opportunity to win the game."
David Wilson, Herald sports writer, can be contacted at 941-745-7057 or on Twitter @DBWilson2.
This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Boys basketball | St. Petersburg uses massive size advantage to rally past Lakewood Ranch in Class 7A-Region 3 final ."