Durant and Plant City faced off for a 2nd time this season, but this time in the district semi-finals.
The game started with the Raiders stealing the ball from the Cougars on the opening possession, but they missed the 3 to start the game. The first basket of the game went to Matthew Suarez, who backed the Raiders defender into the paint for the score. Isaac Correa and Jamin Andrews then exchanged blocks on back-to-back possessions, setting the tone early on in this game that it was going to be tough to score. The leading scorers for both teams got involved as Gavin Tinsley got to the free throw line for Plant City and converted both layups, but then Austin White hit a contested 3 for the Cougars. The Raiders turned it over on a 10-second violation, but Jamin Andrews bailed out the defense with his second block of the game. Michael Bell went to the free throw line for the Raiders, and he hit both. Wylde Correa scored his first basket of the game with a nice hustle play by grabbing the offensive rebound and getting the putback. Malachi Morris hit the midrange shot for the Raiders and then he followed it up with a floater on the very next Raiders possession. Jamin Andrews continued wreaking havoc on defense, this time stealing it and getting the fastbreak layup. Austin White then put matters into his own hands by getting to the free throw line and following up with a step-back, regaining the lead for the Cougars. The Raiders fought fire with fire as Malachi Morris and Michael Bell hit a pair of 3’s for the Raiders, forcing Durant to call a timeout. At this point, the Raiders were up 16-13 with 1:54 remaining in the first quarter. Fresh off the timeout, Wylde Correa kept disrupting on the offensive glass, getting another putback for the Cougars. Jamin Andrews followed with his own putback for the Raiders on the next possession. Austin White ended the first quarter by getting fouled from deep as time expired and he went 2-3 from the line so at the end of the first, the Raiders were ahead 18-17.
Jamin Andrews started the second quarter with the Raiders by getting the putback. Then the Correa brothers for Durant made back-to-back baskets as they both attacked the paint at ease on these possessions. After multiple possessions of no scoring, Jamin Andrews put a stop to the drought, hitting a mid-range shot near the free-throw line for the Raiders. Juan Lopez caught the Raiders slipping on defense as he attacked the paint before they got back, getting a relatively easy layup. The Raiders turned it over and called a timeout. Durant was leading 23-22 at this point in the game. Fresh off the timeout, both schools turn it over and you could tell that every point mattered. Michael Bell found Leroy Lucas with a nice pass through traffic and Lucas hit the pull-up for the Raiders. The momentum changed at this point in the game when Gavin Tinsley pump faked the baseline 3 and dunked in traffic on the Cougars, then followed up with a steal and easy layup for the Raiders. The hometown crowd went off at this very moment, letting Durant’s team and crowd know all about what just unfolded. Some more turnovers happened for both teams, but the half ended with a 3 by Juan Lopez for the Cougars. At the half, the Raiders were on top 28-26.
The second half was exactly what the Cougars needed. The Raiders turned it over and missed shots on their first four possessions, but meanwhile, Durant scored five points straight thanks to one free throw from Caden Bokor and then Juan Lopez and Isaac Correa attacking the paint. After their slowest start to any quarter at this point, the Raiders finally scored with Jamin Andrews making the reverse layup. For context, that was the Raider’s first basket in the third and there was 2:56 remaining at that point. A timeout was called and in a similar fashion in this game, both teams turned it over after the small break. After the Raiders turned it over, Juan Lopez got the fastbreak layup for the Cougars. They followed up with another layup, this time by Wylde Correa. The attacking of the paint continued as Austin White threaded it into the paint again for Wylde Correa for back-to-back layups. An injury timeout for Plant City was called with 34.5 seconds left in the quarter and Creighton Long checked in and immediately made an impact, hitting the 3 for the Raiders. At the end of the third, Durant was ahead 39-33, outscoring the Raiders 13-5 in the quarter.
The energy for the fourth quarter was unreal as both crowds were making chants at each other. The Cougars started with the ball but quickly turned it over with an offensive foul. Leroy Lucas drove to the paint, drawing the foul, and hit 1-2 free throws. Then Lucas stole the ball and took it down the court for a nice layup in transition for the Raiders. Wylde Correa stayed hot for the Cougars, getting another offensive rebound and putback. Lucas stayed hot for the Raiders, attacking the paint and scoring, which made five straight for him in the fourth quarter. Lucas’s heater forced the Cougars to call a timeout and they were up 41-38 with 6:22 left in the game. Juan Lopez responded and hit a tough layup for the Cougars, splitting between two Raiders defenders. Gavin Tinsley got involved again and headed to the free-throw line, making both for the Raiders. Lopez once again made another layup for the Cougars and the Raiders struggled protecting the paint in this game. The Raiders turned it over on the inbound play and a timeout was called, with the Cougars up 45-40 with 4:45 left. Wylde Correa resumed the Cougars’ game plan of attacking the paint, this time hitting the reverse layup. Gavin Tinsley got involved with an offensive rebound and putback for the Raiders, but it didn’t matter as the Cougars scored six more points in a row in the paint on the Raiders.
