06 Mar 2018

SIAA State Championship: The Rock vs. Victory Rock Prep

The Sunshine Independent Athletic Association held their state tournament this past week at DME Academy in Daytona Beach.  There was a bit of a surprise in Friday’s semi-finals as The Rock School out of Gainesville got past co-#1 seed Orlando West Oaks Academy.  That set up a Saturday evening matchup between The Rock and Victory Rock Prep out of Bradenton, the co-#1 seed on the other side of the bracket, which defeated host DME Academy in Friday’s other semi-final.

SIAA plays two 18 minute halves with a 30 second shot clock.  The Rock School (TRS) got out to an early lead of 8-4 four minutes in and thanks to some torrid shooting from deep, extended that lead to 19-10 with 11:10 to play in the half and Victory Rock Prep (VRP) took a time out.  TRS continued to shoot the ball well in the first half but VRP kept it close by attacking the offensive glass and converting second chance opportunities.  VRP got within seven on a couple of occasion but could never draw closer in the first period.  At the half, TRS led by eight, 44-32.  Tre McCray of TRS scored 17 points in the first half, going 3-5 from deep in the process.  Madut Akec of VRP was stellar as well with 16 first half points.

VRP was still in the game with four minutes gone in the second half, down by seven at 47-40.  At that point, TRS slowly began to pull away.  Midway thru the period they were up ten at 58-47.  Over the course of the next six minutes, that lead grew to fourteen at 64-50 with just four minutes remaining in the contest.  VRP was forced to foul but TRS kept their composure and connected on enough free throws to keep VRP at bay.  In the end, The Rock School would win the SIAA state championship by the score of 73-59.

The Rock was led by McCray, who finished with 21 points in the contest and named tournament MVP.  He tallied 14 points in the semi-finals.  Jaden Campbell scored 13 for TRS while B.J. Greenlee contributed 10 points before going out after being poked in the eye midway thru the second half.  Antrell Charlton was the fourth player in double figures with ten points.

Akec led Victory Rock with 19 points.  Jonathan Dos Anos was the only other VRP player to reach double-figures as he tallied 13 points.

The SIAA also named their First and Second Team All-State players as well as their Coach of the Year.

SIAA FIRST TEAM ALL-STATE

Madut Akec, 6’7 Sr, Victory Rock Prep; Michael Durr, 6’10 Sr, Victory Rock Prep; Bryan Greenlee, 6’0 Jr, The Rock School; Tyrell Jones, 6’3 Jr, West Oaks Academy; Madiaw Niang, 6’8 SR, DME Academy

 

SIAA SECOND TEAM ALL-STATE

Tyreike Blakeney, 6’1 SR, West Oaks Academy; Marsai Caston, Potter’s House Christian Academy; Antrell Charlton, 6’2 SR, The Rock School; Ricardo Clouden, 6’4 Sr, Oldsmar Christian; Jonathan Dos Anos, 6’8 Sr, Victory Rock Prep; Julian Newman, 5’8 So, Downey Christian

COACH OF THE YEAR

Loren Jackson, Victory Rock Prep