Playoff basketball: 3 takeaways from Atlantic Christian's regional win over Grandview Prep

WEST PALM BEACH — Atlantic Christian survived a furious rally from Grandview Prep on Thursday to advance to the regional semifinals.

It wasn't long before the Sharks smelled blood in the water, piling up the points in a hurry to take a 19-point in just the first quarter.

The visiting Pride (19-5) mounted a comeback that took Atlantic Christian (19-4) to the very edge of perseverance. But between catching their collective breath and rediscovering their shot, the Sharks put the game away in a stressful fourth quarter.

"Somewhere down midseason, people starting realizing — these kids started realizing — that hey, we can be pretty good if we trust each other," Atlantic Christian head coach J.R. Gamble said.

That trust was there in the fourth quarter, and it earned them a date with top-seeded Sagemont next week.

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Here are three takeaways from Thursday's regional quarterfinal action.

Young guns let the shots fly in Atlantic Christian win

It was a group effort that started out hot for Atlantic Christian.

Rolling to a 19-point lead was impressive — but it's even more so when the leaders on the court are eighth- and ninth-graders.

While brothers Ethan and Gabe Poitier got things started in the early going, it was often eighth-grader Ezra Gelin and ninth-grader Mikey Muscarella whose play elevated in the second half.

After he was fouled, Muscarella hit the two free throws that all but iced the contest with 5.5 seconds remaining in the game — no easy task for a player of his youth in a packed gymnasium.

"I went through a little slump in the first half," Muscarella said. "But I put it together and pulled through for my team. We're learning as a team. We keep growing and growing and growing, and I'm proud of my team and I for just keeping it together."

Gelin, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, was all over the court. As a result, he had to remind himself to get back to the basics.

"I was rushing a lot, so I had to breathe in and out, and when the fourth quarter came, we were playing with poise," he said. "It's my first time in the playoffs. I just have to remember to breathe."

Comeback for the ages falls short for Grandview Prep

Down 19 in just the first quarter, Grandview Prep surged back Thursday night, falling just 1 point short.

"We had a great year," head coach Joe Dawson said. "Obviously, you don't like losing at the end, but in games like this, you can't get down 19 points out of the gate to start. For us to get back in at halftime, it was great to get back in it, but we were in big-time foul trouble."

The comeback was led by stellar performances from Xavian Charles, who topped the stat sheet with 21 points, and Marco Jordonne, who scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Pride tried to will their way into a comeback.

"Our guys kept coming and coming -- they just kept making shot after shot," Dawson said. "It was a one-possession game in the last four minutes and [Atlantic Christian] was lucky enough to make it. They deserved to win."

The 2023-24 season was still a year of success for the Pride, one befitting their team name when taking a look back.

"As the season went on, we got better and better," Dawson said. "We're just proud of where are are, to get ourselves here. It was a great moment for them to play in a couple of big playoff games. These kids that are returning have a bright future, and that's something to look forward to now."

Sharks finally buy in: 'We can be special'

The Sharks are a very young team, and with youth comes the tendency to play for numbers, for offense — as much of it as you can manage.

But that mindset didn't last long under Gamble at Atlantic Christian.

"We challenged them earlier in the year," Gamble said. "It took some time to start trusting each other, believing in the system. When you're young, you're thinking about, 'How do you let everyone know how good you are?' and so we had some troubles early on trying to figure out an identity until everyone bought into, 'Hey, we can be special.'"

After the game, Gelin pointed, good-naturedly, toward "a lot of yelling and a lot of running" as part of the lessons that helped him and his teammates develop a more mature attitude toward the game.

"When you're young, everybody thinks offense," Gamble said. "Everybody thinks, 'I've got to shoot. If I score 20 points, I played well.' It's a little dangerous when you're that young. I've tried to get them to understand: defense first and share the ball, and you'll have the opportunity to beat a lot of teams."

Atlantic Christian has flown under the radar in recent years, but a few strong seasons have preceded this one; that said, this year, the Sharks can boast about having a near-undefeated record at home.

"We've lost one game here this year, and I didn't like losing that one," Gamble said. "Hosting districts was big. Winning it so you get that first round at home. We're so young. We're comfortable at home. Now we've got to take the show on the road."

That road game will come against Sagemont on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Atlantic Christian boys basketball takes out Grandview Prep in playoffs