Plant City High School boys’ basketball hosted Robinson High School on the Raider’s senior night. Before the game, each senior was announced to cheers from friends and family.
The game started with team manager Andre Goedtke making a baseline 3 to put the Raiders on the board. This basket was huge for both Goedtke and the team. He is the team manager and got to dress for Senior Night. Teammate Logan Teeden spoke about how hard Goedtke works and that he didn’t start playing basketball until his freshman year. The rest of the team and the crowd showed him all the love when he made the first basket of the game. The energy was palpable and you could tell this team wanted to deliver on senior night.
Goedtke then stole the ball on the next possession, but Plant City couldn’t convert. After a couple of missed opportunities by Robinson, Michael Bell scored for the Raiders on an easy bucket from an inbound pass. Robinson started attacking the paint and found some success, scoring back-to-back buckets. The Raiders responded with a 3 from Malachi Morris. After a floater by Robinson, the Raiders quickly pushed the pace and Gavin Tinsley grabbed the offensive rebound and got the put-back. Some fouls by the Raiders sent Robinson to the line and they went 1-2 on the attempts. Gavin Tinsley got a good look at midrange and converted, extending the Raiders lead. Then for a good portion of the final minutes of the first quarter, the Raiders scoring was halted, and Robinson was scoring however they wanted, ultimately regaining the lead. Leroy Lucas did hit a 3 for the Raiders to end the quarter but trailed 21-16 at the end of it.
Leory Lucas picked things right up where he left off, hitting a 3 to start the quarter for the Raiders. Robinson answered back with a tough layup and then a timeout was called. Robinson was leading at this point in the game, up 23-19. Laurice Hamilton checked in and scored instantly for the Raiders off an inbound pass. The very next possession had the crowd on their feet as the Raiders got into transition and Malachi Morris found Gavin Tinsley open for the dunk. Robinson did stay competitive despite the tough home crowd, hitting back-to-back baskets after the dunk. Gavin Tinsley proceeded to post up and hit a smooth floater for the Raiders. Robinson responded with their own floater. Gavin Tinsley started getting more defensive attention at this point in the game and got double-teamed but finds Creighton Long cutting to the rim for the layup. Robinson ended the half with momentum as they converted an and-1, but then turned the ball over and got a fastbreak layup. At halftime, the score stood at 33-27 with Robinson in the lead.
The second half started with Robinson getting the ball and the momentum quickly turned in favor of the Raiders as Jamin Andrews got a sensational block. Andrews defense got rewarded as Gavin Tinsly found Andrews in the paint for the Raider’s bucket. Then Tinsley got rewarded for that assist because on the very next possession, Malachi Morris stole the ball and found Tinsley for the fast break layup. Robinson was then forced to take a timeout as Gavin Tinsley pump faked at the baseline and got a wide-open dunk for the Raiders. It was tied at this point in the game at 33-33 and all the momentum was with the Raiders as the players and crowd were pumped up. Fresh off the 6-0 run for the Raiders, Robinson got to the free throw line after the timeout and went 1-2, but it was Robinson’s first points of the half. Malachi Morris got in isolation and hit the midrange pull-up to give the Raiders their first lead since early in the first quarter. A couple more fouls on the Raiders end up sending Robinson to the free-throw line and they hit both. The Raiders crowd once again went bonkers, this time due to Creighton Long hitting a baseline 3 with the student section right behind him. The Raiders finished the third quarter very strong with multiple impressive plays. Jamin Andrews had another momentum-shifting block, this time smacking it off the backboard, then ran down the floor, got the offensive rebound, and put back. Leory Lucas executed a perfect hesitation to get the Robinson defender in the air and then he converted a smooth floater. The quarter ended with Gavin Tinsley getting an offensive rebound and put back. Plant City was ahead 46-42 at this point in the game and outscored Robinson 19-9 in the third quarter.
The fourth and final quarter starts and the teams end up in a jump ball situation, but the possession arrow is in favor of Robinson. The second half struggles continue for Robinson as they airball their first shot of the quarter. Michael Bell attacked the paint aggressively for the Raiders and scored the first points of the quarter. Jamin Andrews continued to wreak havoc on defense, this time getting a steal for the Raiders. He once again got rewarded for his defensive prowess as Malachi Morris found him for another Raiders bucket. Robison did show some life on the next possession with a tough and-1. The Raiders and Robinson both got sloppy on back-to-back possessions, turning it over, but Robinson was forced to call a timeout as Creighton Long hit another baseline 3 for the Raiders. With 5:07 left in the game Robinson was down 8.
The Raiders got the inbound pass to resume play and Gavin Tinsley got to the paint and hit the layup for one of the easier points of the game. Frustrated by his defense, Robinson’s head coach opted for another timeout. The time out was for nothing as Robinson airballed the shot and it went out of bounds. Michael Bell followed it up with a mid-range shot to extend the Raiders lead. Robinson once again got to the free throw line and converted both free throws. Gavin Tinsley found Jamin Andrews in the paint for the tough layup and the crowd was screaming with passion at this point. Robinson did quiet them down for a second as they got an and-1, but it quickly got loud again as Michael Bell missed, and got his own rebound by out-hustling Robinson and converting the putback. Leroy Lucas then got back-to-back layups for the Raiders and with under 2 minutes left, the game was out of reach for Robinson and the crowd was cheering “we want Andre.” Coach Teeden gave the crowd what they wanted, subbing in Andre Goedtke. Robinson hit some free throws, but the Raiders made it a priority to get Andre the ball and he hit a hook shot in the paint and the Raiders student section erupted in excitement. The game ended with the Raiders winning 69-56, outscoring Robinson 42-23 in the second half.
The Raiders are on fire, winning 6 games in a row and staying undefeated at home, now 8-0.
They have 5 games remaining so be sure to show up and support the local team on these upcoming games:
1/26 @ Sante Fe Catholic 7:30PM
1/29 @ Tampa Bay Tech 8:00PM
1/30 Vs Sickles 6:30PM
2/2 Vs Alonso 6:30PM
2/3 Vs Discovery 3:00PM