Class 8A, Region 3 Semifinal: Wharton puts away Freedom to advance
TAMPA – Playing 11 days ago, the outcome was pretty one-sided in the Class 8A, District 8 championship between Freedom and Wharton as the Wildcats won 64-34. This time around, Wharton faced a dogfight from a scrappy road team in…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingTAMPA – Playing 11 days ago, the outcome was pretty one-sided in the Class 8A, District 8 championship between Freedom and Wharton as the Wildcats won 64-34.
This time around, Wharton faced a dogfight from a scrappy road team in Freedom during the fourth matchup this season.
In front of a raucous Wildcats student crowd, Wharton pulled out a 69-51 victory in the Class 8A, Region 2 final on Tuesday night.
The win places the Wildcats in the region final on Friday night at Windermere. Now, Wharton has a chance to earn its first trip to Lakeland since 2013.
Leading 29-25 at the break, it was all business for the Wildcats to open the third quarter.
Wharton earned energy buckets from junior guard Carr Thiam and senior forward Mackinley Theirse. Rather quickly, Freedom generated a few steals and cut the deficit to only two points at 43-41 with about a minute left in the quarter.
That is when the turning point came with junior guard Josh Barnett hitting a big 3-pointer as Wharton led by five points.
Barnett was in the game after Theirse picked up his third foul early in the quarter. The junior then hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to start the fourth quarter and then blocked a shot on the next possession.
Wharton (27-4) used that momentum the rest of the way and outscored Freedom 21-8 to celebrate the victory.
“It was just what I do in practice, shoot and shoot. I had to knock it down for my team,” Barnett said. “I wasn’t really surprised by their game plan. We didn’t let them get in our heads.”
The game had a completely different feel to it from the start. Freedom (25-5) erased large deficits often but never backed down, even with under a minute left in regulation.
Leading Wharton in points was senior UCF signee Darin Green Jr. with 17 points. He attacked often and hit some important jumpers down the stretch.
Green Jr. said his group was tougher than Freedom.
“They are just scrappy and like to talk. We kept our composure for this game,” Green Jr. said. “That was coach’s motto for this game, ‘keep our composure’ because he knows how they act.”
Next to Green Jr., Wharton earned a 14-point night from Thiam and a 12-point game from Theirse.
The Wildcats also got tough minutes from trio junior guard Gio Reyes (8 points), Barnett (8 points) and senior guard Jasper Floyd (7 points)
Freedom had two scorers in double digits with senior guards Trevian Hinson (14 points) and Xavier Betancourt (11 points).
Green Jr. says he didn’t really expect a close matchup after Wharton was able to win the district championship by 30 points.
“I think their biggest motivation to beat Bartow was to get another shot at us,” he said. “I know they were coming with it.”
Now that tall task lies ahead for Wharton who must travel to Windermere (27-4), a Tuesday winner at Melbourne, 77-73 in overtime.
“We are going to watch film on them and then we will play it out in practice,” Green Jr. said. “We have to keep our team together, keep our composure and play tough.”