Basketball Saturday: Seminole, Oviedo, Edgewater shine; OCP wins in OT; Oak Ridge wins big

Sanford Seminole, fresh off a region final run on the football field, is anticipating another deep run by its boys basketball team this winter.

The ‘Noles have the depth to make that happen.

Seminole (6-1) utilized 10 players and saw nine score points in a 67-63 victory against The Master’s Academy (5-2) in an afternoon game in Saturday’s Hoops with a Heart showcase at Oviedo High.

In a nightcap game that was tied late in the third quarter, Oviedo — another Seminole Athletic Conference team teeming with talent — improved to 7-1 with a 55-49 victory against Apopka (3-4).

Seminole has two senior prospects who made big plays in key moments.

Josiah Shackelford, a 6-foot-4 guard, led all scorers with 19 points. He came in averaging 19.5.

Quin’Darius Rumph, a 6-8 center, shook off early foul trouble and scored 10 points — all in the second half.

Still, it was the supporting cast that made the difference as the Seminoles came back from an early 10-3 deficit with the advantage of outnumbering a strong Master’s starting five in a game held less than 24 hours after both teams played Friday night.

“Depth helps. It’s a big plus,” Seminole coach Sylvester Wynn said afterward. “When we get in trouble, we usually have someone who can step in and get the job done.”

Jordan Pittman, a junior who started at defensive end for the Seminoles’ 10-3 football team, was among the contributors vs. Master’s. He made two 3s and totaled 9 points.

“We got a whole bunch of talent,” Pittman said after the victory. “We had a great football season. Now I want to go all the way to the top. We can go all the way.”

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Master’s, which lost a tight 60-59 game at Lake Howell on Friday, was led by aggressive junior guard Josh Pitts (18 points) and seniors Dylan Labuhn (15) and Scott Verboncoeur (11).

Seminole led 34-25 at halftime and quelled a Master’s surge to increase the margin to 49-36 with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Master’s rallied again to close the gap to 65-61 with 18 seconds to go but ran out of time.

Seminole’s lone loss was a 64-63 defeat vs. Dr. Phillips that could have gone either way.

The ‘Noles look to improve to 3-0 in district play with home games against Orange City University on Wednesday and Lake Mary on Friday.

Oviedo finished its first half against Apopka on a 13-2 run for a 32-24 lead that grew to 37-26 on a 3-pointer by guard Alex Harper, who scored 24 points. Apopka answered with its own 21-5 spree and took a 47-42 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Down the stretch it was all Oviedo as seniors Hunter Haverkamp, Caleb Pennyfeather and Harper made big plays.

Pennyfeather, a blossoming college prospect at 6-9, blocked three shots and altered several other inside tries by Apopka. He also scored a key basket on a spin move. That was followed up by a steal and score by junior Dominic Tejada to regain the lead.

Haverkamp penetrated and pitched out to an open Tejada for a key 3-pointer. Two made free throws by Harper and a bank shot by Haverkamp made it 55-49 and sealed the win.

Harper was 13-of-15 from the free throw line. For the season, he has made 60 of 73 tries (82%).

“They were trying to slap down [on the ball] the whole game,” Harper said. “The refs were calling it every time. I just kept trying to get to the middle.”

Acrobatic junior Larson Taylor led Apopka with 15 points. Jermichael Johnson added 11 and Jahi Bowden scored 10.

In early games, Max Simmons scored 17 points to lead The First Academy (2-3) in a 58-31 win against West Orange (1-6); and Lake Brantley (4-3) cruised to a 63-44 win against Central Florida Christian Academy (2-5). Carmine Anroman made four 3s and scored 14 points for Brantley, which added 13 from Landen Paquette.

Cam Codio generated 21 points and Bishop Moore (6-2) had nine players score in a 57-38 win against Daytona Beach Seabreeze (3-3).

Proceeds from the Hoops with a Heart event help support Rob Graham, the former Bishop Moore player and coach who suffered cardiac arrest during a 2005 district tournament game. He was on hand, in a wheelchair, and was applauded by spectators in a ceremony held at halftime of the Hornets game.

Hoopfest happenings

Edgewater improved to 8-0 with a 73-52 win against Impact Christian (2-4) of Jacksonville in Saturday’s Orlando Health Hoopfest at Windermere Prep.

Zion Mitchell led the Eagles with 19 points.

Edgewater has a challenging week ahead with home games against Windermere on Wednesday and Oviedo on Thursday.

Windermere (5-2) went to overtime before losing 92-88 against Lakeland Victory Christian (5-1) in a matchup of state-ranked teams. FAU commit Lorenzo Cason scored 29 points in the victory.

Chalier Torres led the Wolverines with 27 in the loss.

Sophomore guard Brandon Bass Jr. scored 30 points as host Windermere Prep (4-1) held on for a 76-72 win against Villages Charter (3-4).

Santa Fe Catholic (6-0) of Lakeland won 61-56 against Lake Highland Prep (5-1) in a clash of undefeated teams. Tate Darner led the Hawks with 21 points.

Kellan Lewis led Lake Highland with 13.

Also in the Hoopfest, Cypress Creek (2-5) defeated Jacksonville Bishop Kenny 58-55 in overtime after ninth-grader Kevin Edu made two of three free throws with half a second left to tie the game 51-51 and force the OT. Kingston Baez led the Bears with 15 points in the win.

Sarasota (6-1) won 55-51 against Eustis (5-2) in another close call. The Panthers got to within 47-45 with 1:18 remaining but fell short.

Jayveon Dale scored 20 points and Timothy Key had 19 for Eustis.

— By Rick Staudt

OCP in OT in Memphis

Undefeated Orlando Christian Prep (6-0) won an 63-59 overtime thriller against Faith Family Academy of Texas on Saturday in the Battle in the Bluff High School Showcase in Memphis.

Senior guard Ameer Ramadan had 13 of his 22 points in the overtime. He hit two 3s and 7-of-8 free throws in extra time.

Tyler Johnson had a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as Oak Ridge (4-2) rolled to an 87-48 win over Ocoee.

Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.