- November 4, 2024
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In order to win its first District 1-8A Championship under coach Gary McDaniel, Flagler Palm Coast needed to overcome a 14-point second-half deficit and two overtimes to defeat the Sandalwood Saints 64-58 Friday, Feb. 6, at Mandarin High School.
The Bulldogs (22-5) couldn’t find their rhythm in the first half, falling behind at halftime 29-17. Coming out of the break, they began to make more baskets and apply full-court pressure, forcing the Saints to turn the ball over. FPC used a 12-6 third quarter, including a momentous slam dunk by Quindon Stokes over a defender, to pull within six points heading into the fourth quarter, and then they tied the game in the last minute to go into overtime, tied 49-49.
“I knew my dunk was going to start a fire behind us,” Stokes said. “He had just blocked my first dunk attempt I knew the next chance I got I was going to punish him for jumping with me. We had been playing flat all game, but we had worked too hard to lose something that meant so much to us.”
In overtime, neither team was able to separate from the other, so the game went into a second overtime, where the Bulldogs made enough plays to pull out the win, which ended with an Enrique Bush exclamation two-handed dunk as time expired.
“We started in man-to-man defense, and it just wasn’t effective against their tremendous one-on-one play, but when we got our pressure going, things changed,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel has won several district championships in Ohio, but on getting his first district title with FPC he said, “It means a lot because when I first started with this group, they weren’t pictured as a potential district winner, and I think they even had doubts of good they could become.”
Enrique Bush led FPC with 17 points, and D’John James and James Wadley finished with 13 and 12, respectively.
The Saints had won the previously won the last three district championships and were expected to add another.
“Sandalwood had won the last couple years, and they thought it was going to be handed to them again,” Stokes added. “We weren't going to allow that to happen again.”
Next up for the Bulldogs is the Lake Brantley Patriots in the regional quarterfinals Thursday, Feb. 12, at FPC.
“I think they’re very good and balanced, so it should be a great game,” McDaniel said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to impose our will on them more than they will be able to impose theirs on us, but home court should play a big role in this game.”
