Pirates stumble in regional quarterfinal

BRADEN RIVER — Coming off an emotional victory over rival Lakewood Ranch in the district championship, the Braden River boys basketball team had high expectations for its first regional tournament appearance.

But the district champion Pirates learned quickly the importance of capitalizing on opportunities. Braden River struggled offensively throughout the game, posting its lowest point total of the season, on its way to a 38-27 loss to Tampa Jesuit in a Class 4A-Region 3 quarterfinal Feb. 17.

“We got some looks, but you’ve got to make plays; and I don’t think we really did a good job of that,” coach Matt Nesser said. “You hold a team in the 30-point range, and you expect to be in the game, but we weren’t even in the game toward the end.”

Braden River took an 5-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a three-pointer by Tre Bryant and a bucket by Trevon Young before Tampa Jesuit rattled off six straight points. Bryant drilled another three-pointer to close out the quarter.

With the game tied at 8-8 at the end of the first quarter, Braden River’s offense went cold, as the Tigers outscored the Pirates 10-2 to take an 18-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Trailing 20-11, Braden River scored 10 unanswered points to cut Tampa Jesuit’s lead to 22-21 with 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Eric Foster started the run. Steven Ross followed with a jumper, and Bryant completed a four-point play after draining his third three-pointer of the game and knocking down the free throw. Foster finished the run with a layup after the Tigers turned the ball over on an inbounds pass to cut the deficit to one.

But that would be as close as the Pirates would come.

“We were down by 11 points, and it certainly could’ve went to 20 or 25, but it went down to one,” Nesser said. “You had opportunities, and at that point, you just have to dig down.”

Clinging to a three-point lead, Tampa Jesuit went to its four-corners offense, popularized by legendary college coach Dean Smith, throughout the fourth quarter, controlling the clock and forcing the Pirates to play catch-up for the remainder of the game.

“If we got behind, I knew that was what they were going to do,” Nesser said. “We tried to prepare, but when you get behind in games, it’s tough because we don’t score a lot.”

Young and Bryant led the way for Braden River, combining for 21 of the Pirates 27 points. Young finished with 11 points and six rebounds while Bryant scored 10 points — nine of which came from behind the arc.
Braden River finished the season with a 19-8 record — its best record in school history — and captured its first district title.

“There’s only one team in 4A that’s going to go out a winner,” Nesser said. “You win you advance, and this was a one-game championship. They did a better job than we did executing some of their stuff.

“We make teams play at an ugly pace and our defense is our strength at times, and when you only score 27 points you aren’t going to win a lot of games,” he said.

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].