If at first you don’t succeed, try like 8 or 9 times and you’ll eventually make it happen. Well maybe that’s not how the saying goes, but if you’re the Tampa Prep Terrapins you’ll certainly take it.  Coach Joe Fenlon and his program after decades trying to reach the pinnacle of the prep mountain have their ring. The Terrapins were victorious over the defending 2A State Champions Sagemont by a score of 58-50 on Thursday in the Class 3A Finals at the Lakeland Center on the shoulders of some clutch shooting as well as a suffocating defense of the Lions best player Jeff Coby who struggled to get into double-figures with 10 points.

If you can’t realize that you must get the ball into your best playmakers hands when the chips are down, then you probably don’t deserve to either get to this point in the season or you need to find a new occupation. The easiest decision Fenlon had to make was letting PG Josh Heath get the ball and go to work finding his open teammates enabling them to hit shots when Heath would draw double-teams from defenders.

Heath may have finished the game with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals, but his biggest play of the game (and perhaps the entire season) came with just under two minutes in regulation with Tampa Prep only up 50-48 when he dribbled from the top of the key to the foul line, dished to Marshall Holmes in the corner for a open look from beyond the arc and Holmes buried it to put the Terrapins up by 5 and essentially ice the game even though there was seemingly plenty of time.

Tampa Prep also owned the area in which the big boys roam by scoring 36 of their 58 points in the paint. As a team, the Terrapins won the assist battle 14-6, blocked 7 shots to Sagemont’s one, and held the Lions to a 34% shooting performance on the night. Their halfcourt pressure also created 17 Sagemont turnovers as well. Along with Heath’s play, Marshall Holmes poured in 17 to lead the Terrapins while Adonis Rwabigwi added 12. Senior standout Devontae Morgan was held to yet another quiet performance on the offensive side of things, but it didn’t stop him from contributing in other ways. Although he was only 2-for-8 on the evening, Morgan’s two dunks on secondary fast-breaks were crowd-starters that helped swing momentum back towards TP’s way.

Tampa Prep’s only loss on the season came at the hands of 5A juggernaut Lake Wales who dismantled American Heritage of Plantation by a score of 75-44. Marcel White led the Highlanders with 21 points. Lake Wales outscored Heritage in the 1^st and 3^rd Quarters by a combined score of 51-21. They also created a week-long high of 15 steals as a team without even employing their vaunted fullcourt press. Lake Wales will face Terry Parker who dominated Nature Coast. Terry Parker, who played without the services 5-star prospect Jr. Solomon Poole, jumped out to a 19-8 lead at the end of 1Q. Guard Keith Williams hit his first 4 shots from 3-pt range and got help from Lamar Seymore who pumped in 23 points. The Sharks were also victims of a 22-4 margin on second chance points.

In the 4A Final, it was Pine Crest out of Fort Lauderdale winning their 3^rd title since ’08 over Lake Highland Prep by a score of 63-57.  Lake Highland only managed to shoot 20% from the field in the 2^nd Half and 36% for the game, yet kept it close on the strength of Joel Barry’s 26 points. Barry fouled-out early leaving them in a tight spot and that’s where Pine Crest’s Traveon Henry came in to the picture with 24 points. Henry, a Northwestern Football Commit was also instrumental in the distribution and protection of the ball when the Panthers needed it; hitting his FT’s down the stretch and sending the Highlanders back to Orlando with the runner-up trophy instead. Tomorrow’s schedule sees the largest classifications (6A-8A) get things going. At 10:00am, it’s defending 4A Champions Leesburg taking on Wolfson out of Jacksonville, with locals Winter Haven facing Norland at Noon. In the 7A Semifinals, it will be a couple of Central Florida programs getting after it with Oviedo vs. Oak Ridge in the 2:30 game, while nationally-ranked Blanch Ely from Pompano Beach will face Pinellas County Cinderella’s St. Petersburg. The nightcap is another school from Oviedo playing as Hagerty High School will face Vero Beach in the 8A Semis with (Boca Raton) Spanish River vs. Hialeah Gardens. That game will tip-off at approximately 8:30pm.