District Boys Basketball roundup: South Fork takes first title since '15, Central upsets Jupiter

TROPICAL FARMS — The South Fork boys basketball team has a distinct style.

Much like a football team in possession for 40 minutes or a baseball team that only needs six innings from its starter before going to a lights-out bullpen, the Bulldogs put the onus on the opponent to be ahead early. Because with a devastating defense and an offense in no rush to put up bad shots, they make a relatively slim cushion feel like a mountain to climb. 3

South Fork captured its first district title in nine seasons following a 54-37 victory over Viera from the District 8-6A championship game on Saturday from South Fork High School.

“There's only been two (district titles) in about 25 or 30 years, so this is a big deal for us,” Bulldogs head coach Brian Flynn said. “We knew when we had this group as ninth graders that they were a special group, so this is what we hoped for. They worked their butts off. ... They come in here and they work. So they deserve it.”

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The work has been apparent on the defensive end all season.

Playing out of a 2-3 zone defense, South Fork has held opponents below 50 points in 15 of 24 games entering Saturday. The team won all but one of those contests. The Hawks became the Bulldogs’ latest victim.

South Fork (20-5) swarmed Viera, often collapsing on players in the paint not allowing any quality looks inside of the arc. The Hawks did a few clean shots from the perimeter, but if they did not fall, the home team, with four starters listed at 6-foot-4 or above, had the length to control the glass and limit second-chance opportunities.

“If you look, most of our games are under 50. This game was under 40. That's a good team we held under 40 points. It all starts on defense and rebounding. Luckily, we're tall this year. … The key was we got rebounds. If you watch, we had arms just above the rim just grabbing boards.”

The hosts entered the halftime break up 23-19 before the lead ballooned thanks to a 10-1 run in the third quarter.

Senior center Justin Beall started the surge with a third-point play assisted by junior guard Nate Moffitt. Senior small forward Loghan Downie followed that with a driving layup and an and-1 on back-to-back possessions. After a Hawks turnover, senior forward Imarion Stanberry continued the push with a basket inside off of an inbound play.

A Downie free throw capped the run and bumped the advantage to 41-26. And with that large of a cushion, the Bulldogs rested on their defense taking care of the rest.

“It really takes pressure off our offense in a sense because with our defense, all you got to do is give effort,” South Fork senior point guard Nick Chang said. “There’s less to think about other than going out there and doing it, and we got it done.”

Downie and Stanberry each finished with 12 points to pace the Bulldogs while Chang added 11.

With four 3-pointers, Brooks Harris had 12 points to lead Viera (14-11).

South Fork was the top-seed in the district while the Hawks were seeded second. Victorious in 10 of their last 11 games, the Bulldogs will host a regional quarterfinal game on Thursday. They are ranked third in Region 2-6A, but won’t know their opponent until 2 p.m. Sunday when the FHSAA releases the postseason brackets.

However, Saturday night was for celebrating a night nine years in the making.

“For some of us, we’ve been working since freshman year,” Downie said. “Our school doesn’t have the greatest rep, but it’s nice to come here and finally raise another banner.”

Here's are takeaways from Saturday's District 8-6A title game.

Bulldogs break the game open by playing the waiting game

During a timeout in the third quarter, Flynn shouted at his players “they can’t score on us.”

Yet, it was the way the Bulldogs were getting their points that made that statement all the more true.

The hosts operated out of a four-corners offense, where two players were spread just inside half court, another two were positioned on the baseline corners and the fifth stood near the top of the key.

With either Chang, Downie or Moffitt, a South Fork player would hold the ball just past half court, forcing a Hawks defender to get close enough to start the five-second count. The ball handler either backed up enough to reset the count or, with the help of a teammate relocating from the top of the key, drew in the defense before passing back, restarting the sequence all over again.

Then, when the Hawks either over-pursued or sent a double team, the Bulldogs had open lanes for easy baskets. The exercise milked valuable time off the clock. And with a big deficit, Viera simply wasn’t going to have enough possessions against a great defense to get back in the game.

“We really fell back on our coach’s teachings tonight,” Chang said. “Coach is always telling us to stay patient and wait for the great shot to come.”

Chang's prayers gets answered

There were several moments when the South Fork faithful roared with applause.

During a third-quarter play, Downie caught the ball in transition, side-stepped past a defender before slamming home a one-handed jam. Beall also had a dunk, as did Stanberry, who got a loud cheer after completing a possession that featured five offensive rebounds

But possibly the loudest applause of the night came at the end of the first quarter.

Chang intercepted a bobbled pass and got nothing but net on a one-handed floater for three-point territory to give the hosts a 13-11 advantage.

The crowd, largely dormant at that point, came alive. It seemingly sparked the team as well.

“I just threw it up and my prayer got answered,” Chang said. “That was able to get our offense rolling and get momentum.”

Going out in style

South Fork will soon have a new gym to play its basketball games.

Officially breaking ground in spring 2022, the new athletic complex, located just in front of Joe Bud Staggs Stadium and also equipped with a weight room, a wrestling room and a study center, is set to be completed in fall 2024.

The old gym will host at least one more basketball game, but in its final season, the gym was home to a championship moment supporters won’t soon forget.

“Our fans love South Fork, the people that come here love South Fork,” Flynn said. “Sometimes we get overlooked because we're way out here, but we're Bulldogs, we bleed red and black. So I'm glad for us, I'm glad for the kids and their parents. I'm glad for our loyal South Fork community. And so that's what's really important to me, and it's a great way to close this gym.”

Other District Finals

District 7-7A

No. 5 Fort Pierce Central 51, No. 2 Jupiter 47: The Cobras got the monkey off their back.

Or as head coach Christopher Maxon described it, “a piano.”

During his tenure leading the program, Maxon led his program to the district championship game on five previous occasions only to fall short every time. But the sixth time was the charm as his team defeated the Warriors on the road. With upsets in three consecutive rounds, Fort Pierce Central gets to claim its first district title since 2011.

“I feel like the Buffalo Bills, man. They lost four Super Bowls in a row,” Maxon said with a laugh. “I just feel a little bit of relief to get that off my back as a coach.

“It's just one of those things where, like church and the love of the Lord, you gotta have faith in the hard work and the belief is going to pay off. … It's just about the kids, man. I just want to put them in a position to win and teach them life skills and let the chips fall as they may.”

Maxon credited what has worked throughout this postseason: the players executing different looks on defense. Confusing opponents, the team relied on a zone look off of made baskets and sprinted into a man-to-man defense off of a miss. Additionally, the head coach complimented the play of his son, Christopher Maxon Jr. The junior guard dictated tempo while reading and anticipating plays.

However, the Cobras’ brightest star remains Joseph Gayle. The junior wing scored a team-high 19 points and four rebounds. He also was tasked with guarding Jupiter 6-foot-8 senior center Kenny Greenling after Central senior Derrick King fouled out with five minutes remaining.

“He has led us throughout the whole season,” Maxon said of Gayle. “We relied on him so much and he didn't let us down again. He came through with some big buckets and some big rebounds.”

Leading 40-33 at the end of the quarter, the visitors put the game on ice late in the fourth thanks to two free throws from junior guard Christian Maxon.

Central (17-10) has won six of their last seven games. That stretch includes playoff road wins over Centennial, top-seeded Palm Beach Lakes and Jupiter, as well as a narrow win over eventual District 8-6A champion South Fork. After playing a regular-season schedule that was one of the most difficult among area teams, the Cobras are prepped to continue this level play into regionals.

“We wanted to not play any cupcakes. … I want to be battle tested,” Christopher Maxon said. “I want to play tough teams. And I'm not caring about the result until it prepares us for the postseason.”

District 13-5A

No 1. Rockledge 88, No. 2 Port St. Lucie 66: Undersized on the road, the Jaguars could not keep pace with the top-seeded Raiders.

Winning every quarter and leading 43-29 at halftime, Rockledge outrebounded Port St. Lucie 31-23 and shot 58 percent from the field.

"They're very big and physical," PSL head coach Kareem Rodriguez said of Rockledge. "They execute at a high level and their guard play is tough. ... They're the biggest group we played all season long. I'm proud of my guys for the way that we played. We played hard and we fought all the way to the end, but tonight Rockledge was just that much better than us."

The Jaguars received terrific performances by their two senior stars: Ryan Rodriguez and Makhari Chambliss. Rodriguez had 30 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field while Chambliss poured in 23 points.

"They have a lot to be proud of," Kareem Rodriguez said. "And that's what you want. You want development from guys who get four years ago as freshmen and you want them to be able to have a great years their senior year. I believe they feel like they've had a great year and I believe they have, too."

Ranked 10th in Region 4-5A, PSL will finish with a 20-7 record if the team does not get selected to compete in the state playoffs. The Jaguars captured the most wins in a single season since their final four run in 2006.

District 13-2A

No. 1 Morningside Academy 51, No 3. Merritt Island Christian 39: Behind the scoring of Marvin Tidas and Elijah Clifford and the intangibles of Damon Folds, the Eagles earned their second district title in the last three years following a convincing win over the Cougars in Vero Beach.

Tidas had a team-high 17 points while Clifford added 13. Folds only added six points, but his value went beyond the scoresheet. The senior point guard returned to the lineup during Thursday's semifinal following a seven-game absence due to injury and has since been impactful according to Morningside head coach John Montero.

"He controls the tempo of the game," Montero said of Folds. "He makes the passes that are very difficult to make, his court vision is incredible. And he also brings a leadership quality where his teammates believe that they couldn't win or do anything without him on the floor. They kind of doubt each other and their confidence, but with him on the floor, they believe they could beat anybody."

Thanks to the work of Tidas and Clifford, particularly in the paint, the Eagles established a 18-7 lead after eight minutes and never looked back. They owned a 39-20 cushion entering the fourth quarter.

Ranked fourth in Region 4-2A, Morningside will likely earn a low seed, but the team still believes it can do damage.

"This was an important game for us because going into regionals, everyone's healthy." Montero said. "The teams is entering on a high note and we're at full strength, So they have a lot of confidence right now. We're excited for the first round.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at (772) 985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Boys Basketball: South Fork, Fort Pierce Central, Morningside win district titles