5A State Semifinal: No Vernon, No Problem For University School
LAKELAND – 2019 Duke signee Vernon Carey Jr. sat out Wednesday night’s Class 5A state semifinal, but it didn’t phase University one bit. The Sharks took the bite out The Villages (22-8) early on and never looked back in a…
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Continue ReadingLAKELAND – 2019 Duke signee Vernon Carey Jr. sat out Wednesday night’s Class 5A state semifinal, but it didn’t phase University one bit.
The Sharks took the bite out The Villages (22-8) early on and never looked back in a 91-53 win to advance to Thursday’s state final against Andrew Jackson. University (25-4) will look to defend its state title from a season ago.
Led by 2020 guard Roger McFarlane (25 points), 2020 forward Scottie Barnes (22 points) and 2020 forward Jace Howard (12 points), the Sharks spread the floor and never stopped pushing the tempo.
Barnes was ferocious all game long on 11-of-16 shooting from the field along with eight boards and five assists. He played all but two minutes on the night. With Carey Jr. in a boot, Barnes and his supporting cast rose to the occasion.
“I just played it like a regular game,” Barnes said. “I knew coming into the game he (Vernon) wasn’t playing so I knew we all needed to step up and play our game. We just had to play hard and focus on our game plan.”
McFarlane was superb, hitting on 11-of-14 shots from the field while grabbing nine rebounds and recording three steals. As for Howard, he missed most of the season with an injury, the junior started off fast with eight first quarter points and finished with 12 points.
“I thought Jace and Roger did a good job for us defensively,” University coach Jim Carr said. “Our energy was great all game.”
The next step is the state championship where the Sharks will square off with an Andrew Jackson squad fresh off a convincing semifinal win over Tampa Catholic. The Tigers are looking for their first state title since 1993.
As for the big man that everyone in Lakeland came out to watch, Carey Jr. has a real possibility of playing tomorrow despite being in a walking boot and crutches. Coach Carr labeled Carey Jr. as a true game decision.
“One thing we stress to our guys is celebrating each other’s success and I thought Vernon was very much in tune with Jace and Scottie’s all-around performance,” Carr said. “Even Jalil and Taylor. Vernon, attitude wise was terrific.”
The game plan for University defensively was always to focus on slowing down 2019 UF signee Tre Mann. The senior added 17 points for The Villages.
“Tre (Mann) is a great player. He is the best senior guard in the state,” Carr said. “Florida is getting a really good player. We just wanted to make everything hard for him. We wanted to double him.”
The Villages did all it could to recover after halftime as University shot a whopping 74 percent from the field. The Sharks finished 68 percent from the field overall and 63 of those shots were 2-pointers, only four 3’s were attempted as 2019 Cal Berkeley signee Logan Alters connected on it.
Fellow 2019 forwards Brandon Farmer (11 points) and Peyton Williams (10 points) shot the ball well at times in comeback mode.
“We never really recovered from that. We haven’t been in that position in a long time and some of the stuff we were doing scouting report wise went out the window,” The Villages coach Colt McDowell said. “We lost our composure a little bit and we basically ended the game there in the first quarter.
It took probably the best team in the state of Florida to beat us when it mattered most. There is nothing for my guys to hang their head about.”
At the end of the 1st quarter (5A state semifinal):
Univeristy 28
Villages 152020 University forward Scottie Barnes has 8 points including this dunk. @VHS_Hoops @USchoolMBB pic.twitter.com/fufiqjAJlE
— ᴊᴀᴋᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴘᴇʀ (@JakePerper) March 6, 2019