Cocoa Beach's 57-47 win leaves the Barons disappointed.
By LAURA LEE
Published March 13, 2004
LAKELAND - Many will tell St. Petersburg Catholic to look on the bright side.
It had been 31 years since the Barons had been anywhere close to a state championship game and this was the first time they were actually playing in it. Regardless of how things ended, they should proud of how far they'd come.
But they don't want to hear it. Not yet anyway.
"We're not feeling that now," senior forward Travis Karto said. "We lost the game and that's all we're thinking about."
Cocoa Beach defeated SPC 57-47 to win the Class 3A state title at the Lakeland Center on Friday. It was the first time either team was playing for a championship.
"I think we had a great season," sophomore forward Aaron Holmes said, cracking a slight smile and shaking his head. "But being in this game and losing at the end that was the worst feeling ever."
The Barons (28-3) played an almost mirror image of themselves on offense. Cocoa Beach's half-court game was nearly identical to SPC's. It was on defense where the Minutemen (29-2) got their edge. They held the Barons, who average about 46 percent from the field, to 31 percent.
"We've had real success all season long running our halfcourt offense and these guys took us out of that," SPC coach Mike Moran said. "They can flat play defense."
The Barons cut an 11-point deficit to six with 1:23 left but made a few key turnovers down the stretch. Cocoa Beach was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes.
SPC led 11-7 after the first quarter, but the Minutemen tied it at 15 and took the lead for good midway through the second. The Minutemen outscored the Barons in every quarter but the first.
Cocoa Beach senior Carl McNally got around every defense the Barons played, scoring a game-high 25. He scored 19 in the second and third quarters.
"He got some amazing buckets," Moran said.
Of the four Barons who scored, only Karto graduates. Returnees include Holmes, who along with Karto, led SPC with 17 points. Both were named to the All-Tournament team.
"We stand a chance to be a very, very good squad next year," Moran said. "Just playing in the arena itself. ... I think next time around we'll be a little more ready."
Moran cleared his bench for the last seconds and he starters were on the bench as the Minutemen took their final victory dribbles. The last time Cocoa Beach was in the state semifinal was 1975.
Cocoa Beach's Mike Gaudy, who also won a girls title in 1988, became the first coach to win Florida state titles with girls and boys basketball.
Cocoa Beach fans erupted as time ran out. It was the punctuation of a game with a chilling sound level. More than 3,000 tickets were sold and the followings from both schools split them about evenly.
"After you lose the game you've got to sit there and listen to them chant ... and watch them take their trophies," Karto said. And though Moran said he needed a few days to see the positive side of things, he knew his team shouldn't hang their heads.
"They need to be proud," Moran said, "and I'm sure they are." CLASS A BOYS: Second-ranked Miami Northwest Christian cruised to its third state title in six years with an 81-49 victory over No. 3 Apalachicola. The Eagles (26-5) had five in double figures: Derrick Parker had 27, DeLuis Ramirez 14, Eon Rivera 13, Willie Walker 12 and Jose Rodriguez 11.
- Information from Times wires was used in this report.
