Coral Springs rallied from an early deficit and benefited from a late technical foul to pull out a 53-42 victory over South Plantation for its first BCAA Big 8 boys title in its finals debut.
“This gives us a lot of confidence,” said Coral Springs coach Devin Barta. The only other time the Colts even reached the Big 8 was during the COVID year and they were bounced in the first round. “We have been telling the kids for a long time that we have the ability to be a Big 8 team, and be one of the best teams in the county and this just cements those comments.”
Senior wing Harry Gelin had three 3-pointers in the first quarter for South Plantation, while junior wing Lathan Coleman connected on two as the Paladins seized a 13-10 lead at the end of one. Coral Springs senior forward Matthew Curprew-Elsy scored eight of the Colts’ points in the first quarter.
Coral Springs (19-3) took a 24-21 lead at halftime thanks to a basket and free throw by junior guard Alex Pierre-Louis with less than two minutes remaining in the half.
Coral Springs broke a 26-26 deadlock in the third quarter as senior forward Romae Brown and Pierre-Louis each scored within 25 seconds to take a 30-26 lead with 5:14 left in the period.
“This win means a lot to us and our program,” Pierre-Louis said. “We never had anything like this. It is a blessing. It was an amazing atmosphere playing against South Plantation. When it got tight, we pulled together and got the win. Our goal is to win districts and make it to states.”
South Plantation (22-4) pulled within 42-41 on four straight technical free throws by senior point guard Kaiden Francis with 2:56 remaining in the game. Coral Springs senior guard Curprew-Elsy hit a jumper to extend the Colts’ lead to 44-41 with 2:02 left in the game. Francis led the Paladins with 16 points.
“Winning this was really what we strived for the whole season,” said Curprew-Elsy, who was named the Butch Ingram tournament MVP. “We were talking about winning the Big 8 all year long. Deep inside we thought we could do it and we achieved it.”
South Plantation’s hopes were dashed when they were hit with a technical with 1:23 left for a player not being entered in the scorebook which fueled an 11-1 blitz to top South Plantation for their first BCAA Big 8 championship in school history. Curprew-Elsy, who finished with a game-high 21 points, had six during the flourish. Pierre-Louis added 17 points.
“It was a difficult way to lose to be honest,” said South Plantation coach Derek Felder., whose team lost in the final for the second straight year. “I thought it was a tough game between two tough teams and they were the better team tonight. We’ll rest first, get some guys healthy and we’ll bounce back.
“Execution at a high level at this time of year is important,” Felder added. “I think this really gives our guys the focus that they need. We won’t panic over this. We will just go back to work and do what we do.”
