BOCA RATON – It was the Josh Minott Show in the Class 3A-District 11 championship, and no one was stopping him.
The Memphis signee stole the show for St. Andrews, leading the team in scoring with 32 points en route to a 78-58 victory over Jupiter Christian last night (Feb. 12).
The win guarantees the Scots (10-5) home court advantage in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
“The worst thing about this quarantine and us only allowing like families to watch the game … [is that] a lot of people got cheated out of watching someone special,” St. Andrew’s head coach John O’Connell said about Minott. “I don’t think Palm Beach County has seen too many players like this.”
With 4:30 remaining in the first quarter, Minott sunk a pull-up three to score his 10th point of the night. By the end of the first quarter, the forward had 13 points, while the Eagles had 16 points.
“Just wanted to start fast. There’s no room to start slow or relax. … Just create a lead that they can’t recover from,” Minott said.
The second quarter wasn’t much different from Minott.
A one-handed slam in transition put the Scots up by 15 points late in the half, giving Minott 21 points in the first half.
Minott’s prowess was accompanied by a strong performance by fellow senior forward Kenny Turner, who finished the half with 11 points, including eight points in the first quarter.
All of this was enough for the Scots to enter the locker room up 45-30, a lead that they would never look away from.
In the third quarter, Jupiter Christian (11-6) scored just 11 points, the same amount that Minott scored in the quarter. In the final minute alone, Minott scored five points on an alley-oop and three-point play, giving the Scots a 60-41 lead.
“He’s a freak of nature,” Turner said about Minott. “You know how in [NBA] 2k, you play with Giannis, you can just throw the ball up anywhere [and he’ll score], that’s who Josh is.”
All of this was the culmination of an overall rough season for St. Andrew’s.
COVID-19 protocols forced the Scots to miss an extended amount of time, a number that O’Connell believes to be close to 31 days. In total, the Scots played just 13 regular-season games, their final one coming on Jan. 19.
O’Connell spoke on what the opening round of the 3A regional playoffs will mean to his team.
“The title of district champion is great, but more importantly, in this COVID year where we were quarantined for almost half of the season … we need that home game in the first round of regionals,” O’Connell said.
PHOTO CREDIT: Keith Forde
