Royal Palm Beach boys basketball advances to district semis against No.1 Lake Worth
WEST PALM BEACH − Royal Palm Beach boys basketball's district tournament journey got off to a dominant start on Tuesday.
The four-seed Wildcats took down No. 5 John I. Leonard in a 66-40 win, punching the ticket to semifinals against reigning District 8 champion and No. 1 Lake Worth.
"You're always worrying about, is your team ready? Have you done all the right things? Have you done everything you could? But, I mean, they got the job done, so there's nothing for me to complain about," Wildcats coach Deonte Savage said, "looking forward" to a visit from the Trojans.
"We got the luck of the draw. We're hosting districts, so they have to come here. With that being said, I think that helps, but Lake Worth is going to bring a crowd and Wellington and Central are going to play before that, so the place will be packed."
"Lake Worth is a momentum team," Savage said. "They're gonna hit the boards hard, so for us, we can't get stabbed and then not get up. We've just got to play consistently throughout all the runs, and keep it close, and then at the end, try and steal."
For "small but tough" Royal Palm, Savage says Thursday is just going to be about "surviving" that momentum. On Tuesday, the Wildcats proved their ability to rise above with just two minutes to halftime against the Lancers.
It was a four-point game with just two minutes to halftime, a gritty crew of Lancers trailing in a close one before foul trouble quickly drove the scoreboard to 33-19 in favor of Royal Palm.
Out of the locker rooms, 14 second-half points of 16 total for junior Mike Vilsaint drove RPB to its 18th victory of the season.
"Mike is a great kid. He's not a natural basketball player. He didn't start playing when he was three years old. He kind of started late, but he's a hard worker. One of the hardest workers on the team, and he prides himself on the defensive end" Savage said.
Anything the Wildcats have gotten from Vilsaint on offense has always been "a plus," but Savage has seen the six-foot guard start to get comfortable as a critical contributor for his team.
"At the beginning of the season, Mike wasn't really a factor. Now, he's taken over a role and I think that's going to help him legitimately coming into next year," Savage said.
Vilsaint offers Wildcats second-half surge
The 7A crew has taken just seven losses this winter, and Vilsaint looks to keep the success alive in the coming days alongside top scoring seniors Jayden Coney, who dropped 18 against the Lancers, and Imanol Cheatham, who led the night with 21 points.
Leonard was led by 16 points senior Emmanuel Augustin, who split 21 points with Ryan Presendieu and Cory Jones the last time they played RPB, when the Wildcats won an 83-79 thriller on Jan. 26.
"It was at Leonard and I think we didn't play consistent basketball. One quarter we'd play well, take all the good shots, play defensive rebound, and then another quarter we would have a drop off," Savage recalled of his team's play.
"I think we accomplished that today and I think that gives us a little bit of momentum, because all season we've been fighting, trying to play a consistent game, and tonight we did that."
On Tuesday, the next-highest scoring Lancer was sophomore Bryce Reed, who netted a pair of two-pointers and two free throws.
Leonard looks forward to future
"They kind of came in lax," Leonard coach Eddie Tolliver said of the Lancers. "I tell them everything we do before the game translates over, so I feel like we weren't locked in like we were for our last game and it showed on the floor."
"Tonight, we didn't play John I. Leonard ball. We didn't stick to the game plan. They basically just came out, did what they wanted to do, and that was the outcome," continued, motioning to the scoreboard.
The Lancers ended the year breaking even with 10 wins and 10 losses, but Tolliver, who just concluded his first season as a head basketball coach, is excited about the future of the program.
"I feel like with my younger guys, I've got a good group. Coming in, we just had a lot of kids who were set in their ways and the hardest thing was breaking them. I got through to my seniors how I could, but my younger guys, they already know it's a different ballgame next year."
More Tuesday night winners
Remaining local teams are indicated in bold.
District 14-2A
No. 1 Grandview Prep def. No. 8 Boca Raton Christian, 76-50
No. 5 Trinity Christian def. No. 4 Pine School, 52-46 − Warriors move on to semifinals against GVP on Thursday.
No. 2 Atlantic Christian def. No. 7 Berean Christian, 67-57
No. 6 Jupiter Christian def. No. 3 Lake Worth Christian, 48-45 − Eagles move on to semifinals against Atlantic Christian on Thursday.
District 8-3A
No. 5 John Carroll Catholic def. No. 4 Inlet Grove, 46-69 − JCC advances to semifinals at No. 1 Cardinal Newman on Thursday.
No. 2 King's Academy def. No. 7 Oxbridge in overtime, 67-65
No. 3 Benjamin def. No. 6 Somerset College Prep, 87-62 − Buccaneers advance to semifinals against No. 2 King's on Thursday.
District 13-3A
No. 1 Saint Andrew's def. No. 8 FAU High, 82-34
No. 4 Katz Yeshiva def. No. 5 Somerset Prep, 52-50 − Storm advances to semifinals against St. Andrew's on Thursday.
No. 2 Saint John Paul II def. No. 7 SLAM-WPB, 105-29 − Eagles advance to Thursday semifinals against winner of Somerset Academy Key vs. SLAM-Boca Raton.
District 13-4A
No. 1 Calvary Christian def. No. 8 Coral Springs Charter, 68-37
No. 5 Pompano Beach def. No. 4 Glades Central, 56-54 − Pompano advances to semifinals against Calvary Christian, to be held at North Broward Prep, on Thursday.
No. 2 North Broward Prep def. No. 7 Dreyfoos, 103-26
No. 3 American Heritage-Delray def. No. 6 Somerset Canyons, 58-53 − Stallions advance to semifinals against NBP on Thursday.
District 14-5A
No. 1 Stranahan def. No. 8 Boynton Beach, 69-30
No. 2 Northeast def. No. 7 Hollywood Hills, 76-58 − Hurricanes advance to semifinals at No. 3 Suncoast on Thursday at 7 p.m.
District 13-6A
No. 4 West Boca Raton def. No. 5 Seminole Ridge, 60-34 − Bulls advance to semifinals at No. 1 Dwyer on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
No. 3 Atlantic def. No. 6 Coconut Creek, 70-26 − Eagles advance to Thursday semifinals against No. 2 Blanche Ely, to be held at Dwyer, at 7 p.m.
District 7-7A
No. 5 Fort Pierce Central def. No. 5 Centennial, 67-54 − Cobras advance to semifinals at No. 1 Palm Beach Lakes on Thursday.
No. 2 Jupiter def. No. 7 Vero Beach, 56-33
No. 3 Treasure Coast def. No. 6 Palm Beach Gardens, 54-42 − Titans move on to Thursday semifinals against Jupiter, to be held at Palm Beach Lakes, at 7 p.m.
District 8-7A
No. 2 Wellington def. No. 7 Forest Hill, 76-31
No. 3 Palm Beach Central def. No. 6 Santaluces, 65-34 − Broncos advance to semifinals against Wellington on Thursday, to be held at Royal Palm Beach, on Thursday.
District 13-7A
No. 5 Boca Raton def. No. 4 Monarch, 54-38 − Bobcats move on to semifinals against No. 1 Olympic Heights on Thursday.
No. 2 Park Vista def. No. 7 Spanish River, 57-51 − Cobras advance to Thursday semifinals against winner of Stoneman Douglas vs. Deerfield Beach.
Emilee Smarr is a sports reporter for the Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Royal Palm Beach boys hoops advances to district semis, more Tuesday winners
