Orlando, Fla. – With a full 32-minute effort, The Villages High School boys basketball team worked its way back to the FHSAA FInal Four on Saturday night in Orlando.
The Buffalo shrugged off a sluggish start to roar back in the Class 3A-Region 2 championship, rallying back from an early double-digit deficit for a 61-52 victory at Lake Highland Prep.
VHS (23-7) trailed 18-5 through one quarter of play in front of a sellout crowd inside the Weng Family Gymnasium – nearly half occupied by traveling Buffalo fans – before flipping the script en route to its fourth straight trip to the Final Four.
"I'm just in awe of our players, our coaches, our community and everything that just happened," said Buffalo head coach
Colt McDowell, who has now led The Villages to six Final Four appearances in program history. "I couldn't believe it after the start we had, well, I could, just because of everything this group's been through to get to this point. They were tough and together, they played connected, and I'm just so proud of everybody in our program."
Lake Highland Prep (28-2) jumped out to a 10-0 lead to open the regional final, rocking the Buffalo on their heels behind a pair of 3-point makes early. The Highlanders held an 18-5 lead after one quarter of play, tying the largest deficit VHS has faced after the opening eight minutes this season.
"I didn't expect us to go down early like we did – nobody probably did," said VHS junior guard
Aaron Britt, Jr. "But adversity is going to come at any time and we've seen it all year. We knew we just had to stay together at that point."
The Buffalo emerged from their huddle to a wave of noise from more than 500 VHS fans that made the trek to Orlando, helping energize the team toward a first-half comeback.
The Villages cut its deficit to 27-21 with a little over three minutes left in the second quarter, before finishing the half on an 8-0 run that included 3-pointers from Britt and senior
Jared Thompson to hold a 29-27 lead at the break.
"Our entire season prepared us for coming back like we did in that second quarter, but our crowd was so special in that moment," said Buffalo senior
Herly Brutus. "That's all I can say, it was special. They gave us so much energy tonight and knowing they had our back even when we didn't start how we wanted, it meant a lot to us."
The two teams traded the lead three times and tied the score on three other instances early in the third quarter, never separating by more than a single possession until the period's final shot. Moments after
Kymani Weathers slammed home a putback dunk over the head of a Highlanders defender, Thompson knocked down a corner trey to extend the Buffalo lead to 49-45 entering the fourth.
The Villages closed out the victory with a strong statement to open the final quarter, marching away on an 8-2 run. That spurt included three straight trips down the floor in which Buffalo junior
Jomar Bernard went to work in the post, tallying six straight points in the paint for a 57-47 advantage.
"We've been through so many ups-and-downs this year," Bernard said. "We've really shown that we can learn from the down moments, and we've learned that you just have to come even closer together and play even harder for one another."
That mentality will lead the Buffalo to their fourth straight trip to the FHSAA Final Four – this time in a new venue, UNF Arena in Jacksonville – where they'll play in a Class 3A state semifinal on March 9. The opponent and tipoff time will be announced at a later date.
Britt led all scorers with 20 points, Thompson had 17 and Bernard tallied 11, while Brutus pulled down 12 rebounds in the win.
"Tonight was really a microcosm of our whole season," McDowell said. "We got hit in the mouth, but we didn't ever feel like we were losing or playing in a way that we weren't connected. We stuck together and played for each other, even when it got hard, and I'm so proud of them for doing what we've talked about all year when it mattered most."
Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.
