- November 27, 2024
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Mainland held on in the final minutes to top Deltona, 38-34, in the District 5-6 boys basketball championship on Saturday night.
BY ANDREW O'BRIEN | SPORTS EDITOR
Mainland guard James Cuthbertson wandered around the hardwood Saturday night with a pair of metal scissors in his hand.
He used to be a starter, but coach Landis McCoy recently moved Cuthbertson to more of a role player coming off the bench. The senior guard wasn’t mad, though.
After all, the Mainland boys basketball team had just knocked off Deltona, 38-34, to win the District 5-6A championship.
“We’re going to cut down the nets,” Cuthbertson said, with a huge smile. Cuthbertson, of course, was talking about cutting down one of the basketball nets — a tradition in basketball when a team wins a championship. One-by-one, players used those metal scissors to snip off a piece of twine to keep for memories.
The lineup change, Cuthbertson said, didn’t faze him. He’s still in it for his team.
“I just try to come in and do what I can to help us win,” Cuthbertson said. “Things are real competitive in practice, which is good.”
Before districts, McCoy challenged Cuthbertson. The last time the Bucs won the district championship was four years ago — McCoy’s second season.
“I asked James at the beginning of the tournament if he had ever been to the state playoffs,” McCoy said. “He told me, ‘No.’ I told him, ‘I’m going to do all I can to get you there, and you make sure you do all you can to get me there.’”
In the championship game, Cuthbertson did just that. He scored six straight points in the third quarter for the Bucs, including a high-soaring offensive putback. He said coming off the bench allows him to go even harder during the game.
“We have to keep doing what we did (Thursday) night,” Cuthbertson said, of the state playoffs. “Play smart, play together.”
Mainland (18-8) used a tempo-controlling strategy to slow down Deltona’s offense. McCoy said he wanted to tire Deltona’s offense by making them work hard on defense. That included milking the clock.
Leading 33-27 with 3:11 left in the game, Mainland was able to play keep-away for nearly two minutes, forcing Deltona to foul. The Bucs, however, allowed Deltona to stay in the game after they went 4-for-12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
Deltona’s Evan Hinson hit a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left to cut the lead to 36-30, then he was fouled on the next possession on another 3 attempt. He hit two free throws, cutting the lead to four, but Mainland’s Marcus Brunson drained two foul shots to ice the game with 17 seconds left.
Mainland will host Ocala Vanguard at 7 p.m. Thursday, in the Class 6A regional quarterfinals.
