BCS falls short, but dream of winning state boys basketball title remains alive

LAKELAND

Bradenton Christian saw what it wants to be.

It was a painful view, but if you aspire to live among the elite things tend go that way. Grandview is elite -- arguably the best boys basketball team in the state regardless of classifications. The Pride's 87-63 romp over BCS in the Class 2A state championship game Wednesday night proved it.

BCS is a good basketball team and doesn't scare easily, an attitude handed down from Panthers head coach Scott Townsend. In so many ways they are one and the same.

Townsend and the Panthers have made great strides with their program, but that last step is usually the toughest.

Grandview used its press intermittently and that was more disruptive than if the Pride had applied constant pressure.

"They threw it real quick on us and it worked to their benefit and it caught of us off guard and hats off to them," Townsend said.

It was if everything went downhill in a flash. One minute BCS was running the floor making baskets and you could feel the adrenalin. But eventually chaos erupted for the Panthers.

The numbers tell this story. Grandview shot 12-22 from 3-point range and 30-57 over

all. The Panthers were 5-19 from beyond the arc and 22-54 overall.

The pressure was excruciating for the Panthers. They turned the ball over 19 times as Grandview came up with 16 steals. BCS had three steals and caused eight turnovers.

"We are usually pretty good against the press, but we started rushing things and got out of our rotation," Townsend said. "They are a heck of a team. They move the ball better than any team I've seen and shoot lights out."

Give BCS credit. The Panthers kept fighting, but Grandview has a way of ripping out the heart of an opponent, which is why it hasn't lost this season. The Panthers never lost their heart. They just ran out of time and a few inches on the glass.

Grandview did to BCS the BCS had been doing to most opponents all season. The Pride's offense was running at warp speed and defense was swarming like locusts.

This loss should not diminish what BCS achieved. Though the Panthers lose their six top players to graduation, that doesn't scare Townsend just the way it didn't five years ago when the took over from Dave Magley, who coached BCS to four Final Fours.

"We are just going to rebuild. We've got young guys and, hopefully, this will get a lot of them hungry," Townsend said. "We are just going to get back in the gym and get back to work. We have some key pieces coming back. We will be alright."

Some have said the joy is in the journey more than the final goal. BCS might disagree, but the Panthers had quite a ride with this group of seniors.

Manatee and Sarasota Counties have had only two state boys basketball champions; Southeast and Booker and this year BCS was one of only two teams from those counties to qualify for the boys state Final Four.

Townsend is relentless. He went one-and-done four straight years until making it to this year's state title game.

Now it starts again. Rebuild, work and dream.

"I am a student of the game. Getting here is a great learning experience and I am soaking in everything," Townsend said. "We will be back here. The difference with this team was maturity. They believed in and bought into the process."

Alan Dell, Herald sports columnist/writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "BCS falls short, but dream of winning state boys basketball title remains alive ."