Created by: Hoop Journey ------------ Orlando Christian Prep rattled the rims with 10 dunks and routed Tallahassee FAMU 79-32 in a Class 3A boys basketball state semifinal snoozer in Lakeland on Monday night. The Warriors (20-9), six-time state champions, will play in an FHSAA final for the ninth time in 11 seasons since 2008 on Tuesday night at 7. OCP will face the winner of Monday’s late semifinal, which pitted Fort Myers Canterbury (23-7) against North Lauderdale Somerset Prep (17-8). OCP dominated its lopsided semifinal in an atmosphere lacking electricity. Noise levels were low with a relatively small crowd spread out at the RP Funding Center, which is cavernous compared to high school gyms, but the Warriors were able to maintain their intensity level from start to finish. “We create our own energy,” OCP coach Treig Burke said afterward. Defense is usually the catalyst he asks for in that equation, but the spree of dunks helped. The slam show started with McDonald’s All-America Nassir little stealing a pass by FAMU (20-10) and going airbone for a dunk and a 10-2 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Late in the period OCP’s Kai Jones reached over two Baby Rattlers players for an offensive rebound and shoved an underhand pass to Little, who flushed another violent finish. Moments later Jones snagged another offensive board and powered down a two-handed dunk for a for an 18-3 advantage. Little, a 6-foot-7 North Carolina recruit, scored had 10 of his game-high 21 points on dunks. Jones, a 6-10 junior, had two slams. And 6-8 junior C.J. Walker got into the act when he hammered home a third-quarter alley-oop pass from Ronaldo “Rondo” Segu. Little followed up in short order with a breakaway windmill dunk and then a reverse slam on another fastbreak as the OCP lead ballooned to 62-26 in the third quarter and continued growing. “We can feed off each other’s energy,” said Walker, who had three dunks. “If I see a guy dunking, I want to get a dunk too.” OCP shot 62-percent from the field (31-of-50) while holding FAMU to 25.6-percent shooting (10-of-39). The Warriors were 2-of-11 from 3-point range, but 29-of-39 (74 percent) from inside the arc. At the other end OCP held FAMU to 25.6-percent shooting (10-of-39) while forcing 22 turnovers and collecting 13 steals. “I think our defense leads to our offense,” Burke said. “That’s what we hang our hat on.” Burke noted that his team has practiced 107 times and been together for 730 days over two school years. That time together has created chemistry that isn’t easy to beat. And experience breeds confidence. “Last year, at first I remember I was a little bit nervous,” Segu said of the Warriors semifinal win a year ago. That was his first final four appearance as a junior new to OCP. “I feel like our composure level is better than some of the teams that are new (to the state tournament).” #HoopJourney Subscribe To Our Second Channel Hoop Journey 2: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCijg... LIKE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE!
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