Jackson High School-– The Raines Vikings knocked off one of the cities best public school teams, after knocking off No. 3 Lee in the quarterfinals, they knocked off No. 2 and host Jackson 56-52 to advance to the Gateway Conference title game. In order to fulfill their quest for a gateway conference championship, they would need to pull off one more upset, this time against none other than the defending gateway conference champion and rival Ribault Trojans.
It's Raines vs Ribault at Jackson HS for the Boys Basketball Gateway Conference Championship!! pic.twitter.com/sPlqak5nRp
— Duval Sports (@DuvalSports) January 21, 2017
Ribault’s road to the title game was a little more conventional. They received a bye in the first round after being seeded #3. They would then face a tough First Coast team defeating them 46-37. Upstart Englewood would be next as the Trojans advanced to the championship game by edging them 72-69. This set up the showdown with Raines Saturday night for the 2017 title.
Head Coach Claude Harold with star Player Ryan Wallace 20 pts to lead the Trojans to back2back Gateway Championships!! pic.twitter.com/5Frg2uWCy1
— Duval Sports (@DuvalSports) January 22, 2017
The game would start in unconventional fashion as Ribault received a technical for dunking during pregame warm-ups. Raines would hit two early free throws to go up 2-0, yet the lead wouldn’t last long as Ribault exploded out of the gate. Led by Ryan Wallace and Deatry Lang the Trojans attacked the basket from every angle. They would take a 15-12 lead after the first period. Raines would keep the game close however, as Darius McCorker connected from the outside stripe. Midway through the 2nd period, Trevon Laidler gave Raines their first lead since their first period technical foul shots with a big three pointer.Edward Dinish would create shots with his ability to drive to the basket putting his team up at halftime 33-32.
In the second half Ribault would take control. The man that makes the Trojans go Ryan Wallace had 13 second half points to finish with 20 points in the game. Said Ryan Monday night as a guest on the Duval Sports show, “We just put our trust in coach and I went into attack mode”. Wallace got a lot of help from his teammates. #25 Miles Wilson contributed 11 points and Devon Matthews chipped in 8 points in the win. Yet it was the play of Dwayne Kemp who kept the Vikings off balance. He took the pressure off Wallace by finding ways to score buckets and generate turnovers. The Trojans team effort is the main reason they are hoisting the Gateway Conference trophy for the second year in a row.
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