Palm Beach Gardens — The Dwyer boys basketball team erased a 10-point first-half deficit and exploded with a 12-0 run during the third quarter as they rallied past Pembroke Pines Charter 62-53 in a Class 6A regional final on Friday night.
Dwyer (27-1) advances to the state semifinal and will play Wharton on Thursday in Lakeland. Dwyer, which has won three state titles in school history, last reached the final four in 2021 where they finished as the state runner-up.
Dwyer’s Mason Brown drives the ball while being defended by Pembroke Pines Charter’s Josh Harris during the first half of the boys basketball regional final on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 in Palm Beach Gardens. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Dwyer had entered the regional final ranked by MaxPreps No. 2 in Class 6A and No. 14 in Florida.
Dwyer senior forward Blake Wilson scored a game-high 19 points. Senior guard Kyle McNeal registered 14 points and senior forward Mason Brown added 13 points in the victory.
”We have a senior group that was part of the team that went two years ago [to Lakeland],” Dwyer coach Fred Ross said. “They have continued to talk about this season how they wanted to get back. We fell short last year and our leaders have used it as motivation.”
Pembroke Pines Charter (16-11) had a 9-0 run in the first quarter and led 17-11 entering the second.
The Jaguars built their largest lead of the game at 27-17. The Panthers answered with an 8-0 run as Wilson scored five points during the spurt.
Junior guard Adrian Shackleton drilled a jumper to give the Jaguars a 29-25 lead entering halftime.
Dwyer trailed 31-27 in the second half before they responded with 12 unanswered points. Dwyer junior forward Amari Nealy scored to give the Panthers a 33-31 advantage, which they never relinquished.
”We did not play well in the first half and we did not attack,” Ross said. “We made adjustments at halftime. It’s a sign of a good team when you can make adjustments and execute and we had good leadership from our seniors.”
The Panthers seized momentum at the end of the third quarter. McNeal dribbled the ball without any pressure by the Jaguars defense as he took more than a minute off the clock before he was fouled on a drive to the basket with 7 seconds left in the third. He converted two free throws to push the Panthers lead to 43-36 entering the fourth.
Wilson connected on a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 46-37 with 6:40 left.
The Panthers opened up their largest lead with an 11-point advantage, but the Jaguars were able to cut the deficit to 53-48 with 2:03 left.
Wilson stepped up with a basket with 1:50 left to extend the lead. The Panthers sealed the victory after Brown recoded a slam dunk with 40 seconds left.
McNeal, who was sidelined with an injury during part of the season, was excited for an opportunity to compete in a final four.
”It feels amazing and all the hard work we put in is paying off,” McNeal said. “Defense always wins championships. We came out in the second half and we locked up.”
Pembroke Pines Charter junior guard Adrian Shackleton scored a team-high 16 points in the loss. Junior forward Josh Harris and junior forward Jeremy Elyzee both scored 11 points.
Pembroke Pines Charter, which won its first state title in 2021, fell in the regional playoffs for the second straight season.
”They got to learn from their mistakes,” Pembroke Pines Charter coach Dave Roca said. “We will reiterate about taking care of the ball. The turnovers were just unforced. We didn’t hit shots and we turned over the ball. I feel bad for the kids.”
Dwyer, the No. 1 seed in the region, cruised past Piper 60-27 in the opening round and they held off Southridge 75-66 in the regional semifinal.
Pembroke Pines Charter had entered as the No. 6 seed in the region. They defeated No. 3 seed South Plantation 48-28 in the regional quarterfinal and earned a 71-69 victory against No. 2 seed St. Thomas Aquinas in the regional semifinal.
Other regional final results
According to fhsaa.com
7A
(1) Miami Columbus 71, (3) Deerfield Beach 43
4A
(1) Mater Lakes 58, (3) North Broward Prep 53
3A
(1) Miami Riviera Prep 56, (2) Westminster Academy 54
(2) Bell Creek Academy 84, (3) King’s Academy 68
2A
(1) Sagemont 71, (3) Miami Dade Christian 51
State semifinal schedule
In Lakeland
6A
Dwyer vs. Wharton, Thursday, 6 p.m.
2A
Sagemont vs. North Florida Educational, Wednesday, 4 p.m.
English (United States) ·