Green Devils Advance to State Final Four

St. Petersburg used a late rally to defeat Stuart Martin County, 77-76, Saturday at St. Petersburg (18-6) for the Class 7A region title. The win sends St. Petersburg to the state final four in Lakeland for the first time since 1972.

Demontrae Adams sank a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to give the Green Devils the winning margin. St. Petersburg, which was struggling to stop Martin County all night, had a defensive stop that will be remembered for years.

Martin County had three shots near the basket as the clocked ticked down, but none fell in. An attempted fourth shot never got near the buzzer. As the buzzer sounded, the fans poured on to the court, mobbing the Green Devils in celebration.

"Man, one stop, one stop, that's all we need is one stop, and we win the game," said Green Devils guard Davon Griffin. "I was so nervous... If we fouled them, they were going to win.

"Best stop we had all game? That's the best stop we had all year!"

Adams wasn't thinking so much about a stop during Martin County's timeout prior to the final possession. He instead thought about all the work and toil he put in through the summer.

"That's what paid off, all of that hard work," Adams said. "We were 20 seconds from Lakeland."

The Green Devils trailed by as much as six points with less than five minutes left and struggled to keep Martin County off the boards. Though the difference proved not to be insurmountable, it was sort of a strategy by coach Chris Blackwell to stay close if the Green Devils couldn't hold a lead.

"I didn't think (Martin County) played the schedule of basketball that we played," Blackwell said. "So I thought if we could just hang around and hang around that near the end, we would win."

Shorecrest Prep used a barrage of three point shots to defeat Fort Myers Evangelical Christian, 86-68, Saturday night to advance to the Florida Class 3A semi-finals. 

It is the school's first-ever trip to the final four.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Shorecrest was led by senior Luke Blume, who scored 31 points.  

"Shorecrest created space for its players all night, moving the ball inside, then kicking it out to the shooters. The team finished with 12 3-pointers, including seven by Blume," the Times wrote. 

It was Blume's father, coach Daryl Blume, who has turned around the Chargers' program, with a 48-29 record the past three seasons. Prior to Blume's stint at the school, the Chargers couldn't scrape together a winning season for 17 years.

Now Blume, who only planned to coach until his son graduated, is being heavily courted by the school to stick around. 

"Yeah, they're trying to convince me" to stay, Blume said with a wide grin prior to Saturday night's game.

After reaching the state semi-finals, that grin is a little wider.