Middleton, Fla. – The Villages High School boys basketball team will once again play for its own tournament championship.

The Buffalo held off a hard-charging McCallie School (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in the semifinals of the Battle at The Villages on Tuesday night in Middleton, securing a 67-62 victory late before a near-capacity crowd inside the VHS Gymnasium.

"Very pleased with how we started the game and the first quarter couldn't have went any better, in terms of our effort and shot selection, and our ability to rotate a lot of guys in at the right time," said VHS head coach Colt McDowell. "I'm not pleased with our energy in the second, third and fourth quarters, or way we finished the game. We definitely have to learn to play with emotion without playing emotional."

VHS (10-3 overall) jumped out to a 26-8 lead through one quarter of play and maintained its advantage to 40-23 at halftime, before a second-half push from the visiting Blue Tornado (10-3) made things interesting late. The Buffalo were able to hang on, however, and advance into the tournament title game against Bartow on Wednesday night.

"They're a good team and this is a great environment for us to play in," said McCallie head coach Kenneth White. "We just dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first quarter and we'll learn from it."

Herly Brutus led the way for VHS with a double-double – 16 points and 10 rebounds – while Aaron Britt, Jr. had 14 points, Ethan Bevis had 12 and Jared Thompson finished with 11.

Ryan Wingard tallied 16 points for McCallie and Ernas Valauskas filled the statsheet with a 10-point, nine-rebound and nine-assist performance.

The Buffalo recorded 19 assists on 25 made baskets from the floor and knocked down eight 3-pointers in the win.

The Villages will now turn its attention to Bartow, who knocked off St. Mary's (Phoenix, Ariz.) by a final of 64-61, in the BATV championship. Tipoff between the Buffalo and Yellow Jackets is set for 7 p.m. in Middleton.

"We have an amazing challenge in front of us," McDowell said of the title game matchup. "Coach (Terrence) McGriff does as good of a job as anyone has ever done in the state. Their group is really tough, they're connected and they play together, and we can't wait to get to it."



Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.