WELLINGTON – Wellington is state bound.
The Wolverines faced off with the equally talented Deerfield Beach in a Class 9A regional finals game tonight.
Wellington senior guard Bryan Williams would get things started for his team as he scored six straight points to open the game. Nico Toledo would get in on the action in the first after a hard charging layup.
Deerfield’s Lutelson Jerome would score on back-to-back plays for the Bucks, but Wellington would have a 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
It would be 18-18 a little over midway through the second quarter, with both team playing superb defense in the process.
Toledo would leave the game with 1:30 left in the second after suffering a bloody nose. But he would come back into the game with two seconds left in the first half.
Wellington would have a slight 24-20 edge over Deerfield Beach going into halftime.
Johnathan Philistin would get Wellington started in the second half with a layup. The Wolverines would be up 29-20 midway through the third.
Deerfield’s bench would be assessed a technical foul during the second half. Wellington’s defense wouldn’t give up a point until the 3:00 mark in the third.
With 1:56 left in the third, Wellington would call a timeout as Deerfield Beach began to surge. Philistin would knock down a huge three and Toledo would follow his act with a layup to give Wellington a 38-26 lead at the end of the third frame.
The Wolverines would have a 41-31 lead with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter. Foul trouble seem to plague Deerfield Beach for much of the fourth quarter.
Philistin would show up again in the fourth as he scored on two key layups to give Wellington a 48-37 lead with a little over three minutes left in the game.
Wellington would burn a flurry of timeouts in the fourth to keep Deerfield Beach in check.
The Wolverines would knock down their free throw shots during the latter part of the fourth to pull off a 55-41 victory. With the win, they will move on to the 9A state series in Lakeland with a 30-0 record.
Wellington’s next game will be on Friday, Mar. 9 against Miramar.
Leading scorers for each team
Wellington: Johnathan Philistin with 15 points
Deerfield Beach: Lutelson Jerome with 15 points
