PALM BEACH GARDENS – Free throws proved to be the difference in Benjamin’s 51-48 home win this past Friday night (Feb. 11) over Jupiter Christian.
The No. 1 seed was clinging to a 49-48 lead over the No. 2 seed with 11.6 seconds left in the game. This was made possible by a driving bucket from Jupiter Christian’s Matthew James, who drew a foul and then connected on a key free throw to cut the Benjamin lead to one point.
When Benjamin got the ball back, four passes were quickly made down the court and Sanjae Moncrieffe drew a foul with just 4.8 seconds left. It was actually both a smart and risky move by Jupiter Christian in a sense.
The reasoning for this is simply because Moncrieffe has been making multiple free throws throughout the second half when needed.
Sure enough, Moncrieffe made both of his free throws to get Benjamin’s lead up to three over Jupiter Christian.
After that, the Eagles had a chance to send the District 11-3A title into overtime.
Pushing down the court rather quickly, the road team got a final shot off in time for a desperation three-pointer. But the ball clanked just near the rim as it did not go into the net.
Pandemonium set in and Benjamin (15-7) went on to celebrate its district title on the team’s home floor.
“It was good to beat a really good Jupiter Christian team,” Benjamin head coach Brandon Arnette said. “It was a dogfight…When you’re playing for a championship, there’s a lot more invested in it. It was a hard fought game for both teams.”
Arnette spoke on the free throws made that ultimately helped Benjamin win the game and seal the No. 1 seed in Class 3A – Region 3.
“Our Achilles heel in the first part of the season was free throws”, Arnette said. “We got a couple of new free throw shooting drills we have been implementing in the last couple of practices. Sanjae Moncrieffe was a 40-50 percent free throw shooter, and he hit two big ones when it counted.”
Moncrieffe finished with 14 points, including 7-of-8 free throws in the district title game.
Meanwhile, senior Mark Cueto was a force to be reckoned with near the basket – especially down the stretch. He finished with 12 points, including seven of which came in the fourth quarter.
“Mark is our lone senior,” Arnette said. “He’s been here through the good and the bad. He’s our glue, so it’s going to be tough losing him next year. He is the heart and soul of this team, so we go as he goes.”
As the region’s No. 1 seed, Benjamin will have home court for up to its next three games. With that, the rising program will be the odds-on favorite to reach the State Final Four Series next month (March 2-4) at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
“We can get there with hard work, discipline, and just being consistent,” Arnette said. “The biggest issue is that we play up-and-down sometimes. If we can get consistent over these next three games, then we have a shot at getting to Lakeland.”
GAME NOTES: Benjamin junior Darrell Sweeting had 13 points, while Gavin Aydelotte added eights points of his own. Carter Smith and Micah Mays contributed two points each to round out the scoring for the Buccaneers.
Meanwhile, Jupiter Christian’s Matthew James led his team with 13 points, including 5-for-5 shooting from the free throw line. Tareeq Anderson added 10 points, while Aidan Walker contributed nine points (all on three points) and eight points each came from Jeremiah Augustin and Tajiri Green.
As a result of the district title loss, Jupiter Christian will be the No. 5 seed in Class 3A – Region 3.
NEXT: 3A – REGION 3 QUARTERFINALS
Thursday, Feb. 17 – 7 p.m. tip-off
No. 1 seed Benjamin (15-7) vs. No. 8 seed Cardinal Newman (12-11)
No. 5 seed Jupiter Christian (15-7) at No. 4 seed Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (16-11)
NOTE: The winners will play each other in the 3A – Region 3 semifinal round on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m
