The 10-8 P.K. Yonge Blue Wave boys basketball team fought valiantly against the 16-2 Orlando Christian Prep Warriors, but it wasn’t enough. Despite a thrilling comeback, the Blue Wave still fell 47-43.
How it went down
Despite trailing for most of the game, P.K. Yonge had a chance to tie or win the game while down 45-43 with less than a minute remaining. Adrian Bloodworth’s final shot did not fall, however.
Exciting finish down the stretch with P.K. Yonge trailing Orlando Christian Prep by two 45-43, but Adrian Bloodworth’s final shot falls short and the Blue Wave fall to 10-9, while the Warriors improve to 17-2. @ESPNGainesville @MaxPreps @ThePrepZone pic.twitter.com/r1OFGbRyMg
— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) January 25, 2020
P.K. Yonge head coach Boderick Johnson said that he drew up a cross-screen action to go to either side, depending on which was open.
“An OCP defender switched though instead of just staying with his man,” he said. “He got a hand on it and deflected it, so that kind of disrupted the play there.”
After that, Eric Butler hit two free throws for Orlando Christian Prep to put them up four with just seconds to go, essentially sealing the game.
Falling down big and fighting back
After trailing 11-6 late in the first quarter, the Warriors went on a 6-0 run to end the period with the lead. They carried that momentum into the second quarter.
While the Blue Wave trailed by only one at the end of the first quarter, the margin was blown up to 10 by halftime, behind a couple of dunks by Ven Allen Lubin that sparked his team. The Warriors ended the half on a 9-2 run and won the quarter 16-7 overall.
P.K. Yonge came out with a different intensity in the second half, however.
“They played with a lot of heart and a lot of energy in the second half,” Johnson said. “They finally dug in defensively and started getting more aggressive.”
The Blue Wave got out on the break and got some easy transition buckets in the third and fourth quarters, like this steal and layup by Deontae Mavin.
P.K Yonge Blue Wave #5 Deontae Marvin steals the ball to make a clutch lay up to bring the score within 6 against Orlando Christian Prep Warriors 25-31 @ESPNGainesville @ThePrepZone @MaxPreps pic.twitter.com/ZvSncbzDm2
— Syltavius Kelley (@tavius21) January 25, 2020
The Blue Wave cut the 10-point halftime deficit to six by the end of the third quarter, and they whittled it down to as little as two in the fourth quarter, thanks to some clutch three-point shooting by Josiah Dye.
P.K. Yonge Blue Wave #42 Josiah Dye hits a clutch three pointer in the 4th quarter to cut the deficit to two point against the Orlando Christian Prep Warriors @ESPNGainesville @ThePrepZone @MaxPreps pic.twitter.com/a8YGsg9Vog
— Syltavius Kelley (@tavius21) January 25, 2020
Alas, despite the effort, the win was not in the cards for P.K. Yonge Friday night.
The key players
In spite of the loss, P.K. Yonge saw some strong performances from a number of their players. Danny Dawson and Adrian Bloodworth each crossed double digits in the points department, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively. Deontae Mavin and Josiah Dye were right behind them with nine and seven points of their own.
Moving forward
With the win, Orlando Christian Prep increased their winning streak to eight games and improved their record on the season to 17-2. They will look to stay hot against Wekiva on the road Tuesday.
With the loss, P.K. Yonge fell to 10-9 on the season with six regular-season games remaining. They will try to break their now two-game losing skid Saturday at home against Dunnellon.
Johnson said he hopes to see his team improve leading up to the district tournament.
“We need to continue to get better at the little things we talk about all the time in practice and translate it to the games,” he said. “I saw flashes of that tonight, especially in the second half. Now the biggest thing is being consistent with it. Doing those little things will make the difference in the end.”