Lakeland, Fla. — It was everything but the trophy.

A championship-worthy effort and all that comes with it was put forth by The Villages High School boys basketball team Saturday night in Lakeland, as the Buffalo stared down preps powerhouse Calvary Christian (Fort Lauderdale) in the Class 3A state final.

VHS never flinched nor wavered as it took the nation's third-ranked team to the final buzzer, only to see its upset bid come up one half-court heave short in a 66-64 loss inside the RP Funding Center.

The Buffalo (26-6) battled the Eagles (22-1) throughout an epic state title game that featured 19 lead changes and 11 ties, before Calvary's Kenneth Francis Jr. scored the eventual game-winning basket with 2.5 seconds to play. VHS had one last-gasp effort — a desperation try from senior Adyn Corbin from beyond halfcourt — but it veered right and heartbreak was all the Buffalo were left.

"I literally have nothing left," said VHS head coach Colt McDowell, who brought VHS to its fifth Final Four in 10 years. "We emptied the tank — our boys emptied their tanks — and that's all you can ask for. It sucks that we lost and it hurts, but we fought to the very bitter end. I'm just so proud of them and our entire coaching staff."

After narrowly knocking off Class 3A No. 2 Andrew Jackson in Friday's state semifinal, not many figured there would be much left in The Villages' tank against one of the country's elite prep squads and the far-and-away favorite in Class 3A.

That proved to not be the case throughout an impressive first half, in which the Buffalo led early and then trailed by just a point (32-31) at the intermission. The deficit came despite VHS being whistled for 10 fouls to Calvary's three — resulting in a 13-2 disadvantage in free-throw attempts — thanks in large part to seven made 3-pointers by The Villages in the first half.

VHS regained the lead for the first time since the opening minutes early in the third quarter, when Aaron Britt, Jr. tallied a traditional three-point play with 6:15 remaining for a 35-34 advantage. The Buffalo then held the lead throughout the majority of the third, before briefly relinquishing it with a little over a minute to play in the period.

But a 3-pointer by Corbin at the buzzer — one of nine makes beyond the arc on the night — gave VHS a 54-51 lead entering the fourth and invigorated even more belief in the Buffalo huddle.

"Buffalo basketball is all about bringing the fight to anybody that we play," Corbin said. "We fear none and respect all, and we knew coming in that we could compete against them and we could win. There was no 'if' about it, and we believed it all night long."

The fourth quarter was a ferocious back-and-forth affair, as the two teams exchanged the lead eight times and tied for it twice more in the final period. Neither team led by more than two points at any point over the final eight minutes of action.

VHS held its last lead with 5:49 remaining, as Corbin lofted a floater through traffic and into the net to give the Buffalo a 58-57 advantage.

Calvary Christian responded with a 3-pointer by Cayden Daughtry on the next possession to set off a chain reaction of Buffalo scores to tie — and answers by the Eagles to retake two-point leads — over the final five minutes.

After Jared Thompson tied it once again at 64-64 on an offensive putback for his team-leading 20th point of the state championship, Calvary was left with a go-ahead possession and 16.4 seconds remaining on the clock.

The VHS defense stood tall and denied Eagles star Shon Abaev, ESPN's No. 24 ranked recruit in the Class of 2025 and a University of Cincinnati signee, with less than five seconds left on the initial attempt at the rim. But an offensive rebound from Francis led to his go-ahead basket with just 2.5 seconds on the clock.

A Buffalo timeout gave VHS its last-chance opportunity to make a miracle out of things, but Corbin's final shot in his high school career wasn't meant to be as he battled through contact on the half-court attempt.

Thompson added nine rebounds to go along with his team-high 20 points, while Corbin finished with 19 points and Britt tallied 14. 

"We tried, we really tried as hard as we could," Thompson said. "They had a tough shot late, made it, and there's nothing we could do about it but shake their hand and say 'Good job' to them."

Despite being a heavy underdog, VHS led for more than 16 minutes of the state title game — compared to just 10 for Calvary — while the Buffalo also committed fewer turnovers and shot a better percentage from the field. Calvary Christian made 19-of-20 attempts from the free-throw line, while VHS went 9-for-11.

"We knew if we were going to go down, we were going to go down swinging," McDowell said. "We were going to go down on our shield and we'd go down giving (Calvary Christian) our best shot. We wanted them to remember our fight until the very end — and that's exactly what we did."

The state championship is the fourth in program history for Calvary Christian, whose players compete as both the Eagles within the FHSAA and as "Fear of God Athletics" within OTE (Overtime Elite), a pay-for-play league in which athletes can elect to receive minimum salaries of $100,000 and additional signing bonuses to participate. Following their victory over the Buffalo on Saturday in Lakeland, Calvary Christian and head coach Cilk McSweeney will continue on and compete in OTE postseason play at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Atlanta.

"NIL has been passed, so I don't really have an issue with (players being paid)," McDowell said. "But I do not understand how Policy 22 (non-school teams) and Policy 36 (recruiting) has been — or hasn't been — applied by the FHSAA. I have the utmost respect for Cilk McSweeney, I've known him for a long time, so there's no bad blood and I know he works his behind off to make his teams better. But all that being said, I still really don't know how that all works and what's being viewed as best for our game."

VHS closes its 2024-25 season with 26 victories — the second-most in program history — after advancing to the FHSAA Final Four for a third consecutive year and a fifth time overall. The Buffalo captured their seventh straight district title en route to the program's second state championship game appearance. 

Along the way, the Buffalo knocked off the No. 1 ranked team in Michigan (St. Mary's Prep) on the final day of November, celebrated their first-ever Battle at The Villages tournament title, and won all five postseason games on the way to Lakeland by an average of 41 points per win. 

This year's roster also featured five seniors: Corbin, Nick D'Alessandro, Kyle Staun, Allen Milow and Mikeen Harrison.

And as the clock hit zero Saturday night inside the RP Funding Center — and presumably for quite some time moving forward — all VHS could do was reflect on an effort worth being proud of.

"I'm just very proud of everybody coming out of that locker room with tears in their eyes," Corbin said. "Being relentless is something we pride ourselves on, and we were relentless since this group first came together back on June 1. I'm proud of how far we've come, I'm proud of the guys, and I'm just proud to be a part of it."


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