Winter Haven repeats as Kingdom of the Sun champions, Celiscar repeats as Tournament MVP

Blue Devils top St. Thomas Aquinas in overtime for tournament crown

Winter Haven guard Eric Dailey drives the ball up floor against St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday at the Kingdom in the Sun Tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala.  / Bill Kemp

OCALA, FLORIDA - A funny thing happened on the way to a blow out.

Winter Haven, the Class 7A state runner-up this past season, built a 22-point halftime lead and watched it slip away before pulling out a 78-75 overtime win against Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in the Kingdom of the Sun championship game Saturday at Vanguard High School.

"We are very happy but we never expected to see a 22-point halftime lead disappear," Winter Haven head coach Tyrone Woodside said.

"But character, maturity, playoff experience and all those things kicked in, especially with our younger bench guys. That was their first time."

Winter Haven guard Tyrese Mayo goes in for a basket during the first half of the championship game against St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday at the Kingdom in the Sun Tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala.  / Bill Kemp

Winter Haven (11-1) became just the second program to win the 49-year-old tournament in back-to-back years, having beaten Olympia 75-69 last year.

Additionally, Winter Haven senior guard Isaac Celiscar became just the second player to win back-to-back tournament MVP honors after leading all scorers with 26 points. He finished with 63 points for the tournament. Kenny Vaughns won back-to-back MVP awards for Vanguard in 1977-78.

"We just wanted to defend our title," said Celiscar, who is committed to Yale. "The end goal was to win the championship and that is what we did."

Winter Haven senior guard Isaac Celiscar fires up a jump shot during the first half of the championship game against St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday at the Kingdom in the Sun Tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala.  / Bill Kemp

After leading 44-22 at the half, St. Thomas climbed back into the game, narrowing the lead to 55-44 by the end of the third quarter.

And then Drake Sandi tied the game 66-66 on a bucket with 25 seconds left. He was fouled on the play and converted the 3-point play to give St. Thomas a brief 67-66 lead - it's only lead of the game.

Winter Haven senior guard Jamie Phillips put the Blue Devils back up 68-67 on the next possession. St. Thomas knotted the game on a free throw by Sandi with seven seconds remaining to push the game into overtime.

Winter Haven took a quick five-point lead in overtime and then hung on for the win. Phillips finished with nine points. He scored 42 for the tournament and was selected to the All-Tournament team with Cezanne Mosley, who scored 13 in the game and 44 for the tournament. Winter Haven also picked up 18 points from Tyrese Mayo.

"Our coach always talks about adversity so after blowing a 22-point lead, he told us we have to handle the adversity. We went up and they went up. It was a rollercoaster but we handled adversity," Celiscar said.

St. Thomas was led by freshman guard Kellson Sandi with 20 points while Ayden Ambrose scored 17 and Drake Sandi and Matt Andreopoulos each scored 12.

Kellson finished the tournament with 73 points and Ambrose finished with 55. Both were named to the All-Tournament team.

Third Place Game

Williston 57, Tampa Leto 53

Defending Class 1A state champions Williston held off a tough-minded Tampa Leto to win by four points and capture the third place trophy.

"It was a stretch, they fought all night long," Williston head coach Jim Erving said. "Leto never gave up, we have to give them credit. But our kids came out after a tough loss a little flat. They outplayed us but we found a way to win."

Kiori Jordan-Thomas from Rockledge drives under the basket while Olivan Owens from Albany Green Tech defends during the fifth-place game at the Kingdom in the Sun Tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala.  / Bill Kemp

Williston was led by All-Tournament team selection Kyler Lamb with 21 points. Reggie White added 14 and Aramys Rodriguez added 12.

Derek Delgardo, another All-Tournament team selection, led Leto with 24 points. He also dished out two power slam dunks, three 3-point shots and one critical blocked shot.

"I think this game will help boost our confidence," Delgardo said. "We were missing one of our better players and we were still able to compete with them."

Fifth Place Game

Rockledge 66, Green Tech (Albany) 63

Ryan Blount scored 28 points - with four 3-pointers - to help Rockledge take down Green Tech for fifth place on Saturday. Blount scored 85 points in the tournament and was named to the All-Tournament team.

North Marion junior guard Brenden Barber goes in for the slam dunk in a Challenge Round game against Hawthorne on Saturday at the Kingdom in the Sun Tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala.  / Bill Kemp

Additionally, for Rockledge, Mark Christian scored 11 and CJ Keans added eight to seal the win.

Green Tech was led by Haisi Mayben with 17 points. He scored 61 in the tournament and was also named to the All-Tournament team.

Indaiver Barnes canned three 3-pointers on his way to 14 points and U'Mier Graham scored 16 to round out the Green Tech attack.

Consolation Championship Game

Victory Christian 83, Mariner 52

Victory Christian senior guard Lorenzo Cason, who signed with Florida Atlantic, scored 27 points - including four 3-pointers - to lead Victory Christian to a 31-point win in the consolation championship game against Mariner.

Senior Lorenzo Cason from Victory Christian goes up for the finger-roll jam during the Consolation Final against Mariner. He scored 27 points and was named to the All-Tournament team / Bill Kemp

Cason scored 91 points during the tournament and hit his 2,000th career point during the consolation game. He was named to the All-Tournament team.

Also for Victory, Jordan Lanier scored 16 and MJ McCalla added 11.

Cory Hunter led Mariner with 12 points while Marcus Kelley added nine. Kelley scored 52 points in the tournament and was also named to the All-Tournament team.

Challenge Round Game

Hawthorne 62, North Marion 44

CJ Ingram scored 18 points to lead Hawthorne to an 18-point win Saturday in the Challenge Round game. Caleb Rollerson added 11 and Alvon Isaac scored in the win. North Marion was led by Coy Sizemore with 13 points while Jedarrius Jackson scored nine.

Math, Civics, Science (PA) 65, Trinity Catholic 44

Malik Myatt and Aiden Brown scored 14 points each while Sair Alsbrooks added 13 to lead Math, Civics and Science, out of Philadelphia, to a 65-44 win over Trinity Catholic on Friday. Julian Mendez led Trinity with 14 and Elijah Leon and Brandon Haughton added 11 apiece.

Kwasi Edge from Albany Green Tech fights through the Rockledge defense during the fifth-place game at the Kingdom in the Sun Tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala / Bill Kemp

Winter Haven poses with its Kingdom in the Sun championship trophy on Saturday at the Kingdom in the Sun Tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala. It was the Blue Devils second consecutive tournament trophy.  / Bill Kemp