After district playoff runs by all three Keys boys basketball squads, Key West was the final team standing on Feb. 6, when a pair of playoff wins led them to the FHSAA 4A District 16 championships.
Their postseason run began Feb. 3, when the Conchs hosted South Miami in the quarterfinals. Key West dispatched the sixth-seeded Cobras in a 77-55 rout that proved the Conchs deserved the higher third-seed ranking. James Osborne led the scoring drive with 19 points while Judson Snider added 13 and Kyan Gladwell and Jayce Fernandez scored eight each.
The win sent Key West to the semis, where they faced the No. 2 team in District 16, St. Brendan. Osborne had the hot hand again with 33 points and added 10 boards for a postseason double-double. Snider totaled nine points and five steals, Leo Batista scored nine and Zach Levering was good for 10 rebounds in the 63-58 Feb. 4 win.
By upsetting the Sabres, the Conchs had strong momentum heading into the district championship game Feb. 6 against the top-ranked Bulls of Miami Northwestern. Key West used that momentum to put on a show of force, both offensively and defensively, and at the end of the first quarter they led by three. Northwestern chipped away and by the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Bulls held a 46-37 lead. The Conchs, determined to pull off a second upset win in a row, put on an offensive display in the fourth quarter, downing 20 points and narrowing the lead to just three, but ran out of time before they could complete the job. The 60-57 loss knocked the Keys’ final hoops team out of playoff contention.
Osborne had another amazing game, scoring 34 points. Batista, whose sharpshooting from behind the arc struck the fatal blow for the Marathon Dolphins last month, hit four against the Bulls and added a total of 14 points. Snider had five points and rebounds plus six assists and Zach Levering had 10 rebounds and three blocks in the loss.
Marathon’s boys also had a run into district playoff action. The Fins hosted Pahokee in the Rural District 8 quarterfinals on Feb. 3. The Dolphins’ roster only lists eight players on a good night, but Tuesday was fraught with a series of unfortunate events for the Fins. Sixth man Taylor Huff dislocated a finger during the school day, and then forward Josh Koler rolled an ankle during warmups.
An industrious Jim Murphy scanned the crowd and called up a JV player to add to his options, but would not need to send him into action. The rest of the Fins filled in beautifully, and with only a few brief breaks, the starting five played the entire game, underscoring one of Murphy’s biggest priorities as a former track and cross country coach: conditioning. Marathon won 56-42, fueled by Jack Chapman’s 28 points, six rebounds and eight steals. Briggs Roberts scored 10 while Giorvis Zamora and Andrew Suarez added eight apiece.
For the semis, the Fins made the long trip to Fort Meade, where they lost to the Miners by 24 in December. With Huff and Koler back in the lineup, things looked hopeful for the Fins. In a back-and-forth game, Marathon matched Fort Meade well in all areas but one: fouls. Marathon was charged with 15 fouls over the course of the game to Fort Meade’s three. And when points were at stake, the Miners went to the line 21 times, making eight free throws. Marathon shot only two, yielding just one point. The outcome, while far closer than the teams’ first meetup, was a 42-39 loss which ended the season for Marathon. Chapman had 14 points with Zamora and Roberts chipping in seven each. Andrew Suarez sank six points and amassed six more assists – enough to break the Fin’s single-season record, which now stands at 118.
Coral Shores’ boys season ended in a 48-35 loss to Keys Gate in round one of district action. The Hurricanes finished the season with a respectable 9-8 record.
The Lady Conchs’ four-team district negated the need for quarterfinals, pitting them against the top ranked Miami Northwestern for their first post-season contest. The Bulls had a stampede against the Conchs, winning 52-18 to end Key West’s season. The Lady ’Canes had a similar postseason story. The four-team 3A District 16 started with the semifinals, pitting Coral Shores, ranked fourth, against the third-ranked Cougars of Miami Killian. The Cougars defeated the Hurricanes 72-35 to knock them out of contention.
The Lady Fins did not play a quarterfinal game either, but picked up a W against Frostproof, who opted not to travel to Marathon for their playoff contest. The Dolphins faced Fort Meade in their semifinal matchup. Daysi Williams led the team with 16 and Shaina Robinson added 15 to the score, but it would not be enough to pull off a repeat of last season, during which the underdog Dolphins upset the entire Rural District 8 bracket to win a district championship. The 50-44 loss to the Miners closed out the girls basketball season for Keys teams.
