A.C. Flora snatches 3A boys basketball state crown from Midland Valley

After coming up short last season, James Reese wasn’t going to let go of the state championship trophy anytime soon.

The A.C. Flora guard was walking around the halls of Colonial Life Arena with the trophy in his hands shortly after the Falcons’ 60-50 win over Midland Valley in the Class 3A championship game Saturday.

Midland Valley defeated A.C. Flora 62-56 in last year’s title game.

“It feels great because it was revenge,” Reese said while holding the trophy. “We put in all that hard work in the offseason and had trust in our coaching staff. And we had trust in each other. We are some hard workers and would do anything to get back to the top.”

There wasn’t much mention of last year’s title loss, said A.C. Flora coach Joshua Staley. Instead, the Falcons put together a workman-like effort throughout the season, winning the school’s fifth state title. The Falcons won 15 straight games to close the season.

The championship is the first for Staley, who was 0-4 in three title appearances as coach of the Orangeburg-Wilkinson girls before taking over at A.C. Flora last year.

“It’s more humbling than exciting,” Staley said. “When you get an opportunity to win and accomplish your goal while leading a bunch of young men, it feels so good to see them be successful. It’s very humbling.”

Reese led the Falcons with 17 points, turning in another strong playoff performance. The junior guard hit the game-winning 3-pointer in last week’s Lower State final and came up with a big layup late in the fourth quarter as Midland Valley made a last-ditch comeback.

Freshman Christian Brown added 15 points, and senior Brandon Davis scored 13 in his final high school game. Kendale Hampton had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Falcons.

“We told James and Christian before the start of the week that how they play is going to be to how we have success tonight,” Staley said. “They stepped up to the challenge and we got it done.”

The Falcons outrebounded Midland Valley 47-32 and held the Mustangs to 27.4 percent shooting.

A.C. Flora shot 54.8 percent in the game, including 61.9 percent in the first half. The Falcons used a 13-2 run over the first and second quarters to lead 25-12 with 4:25 left in the second quarter.

The Falcons maintained a double-digit lead until the fourth quarter, when the defending state champions made their run. Devon Young got the Mustangs within 49-40 with 6:19 left.

Tayler Wade hit a 3-pointer to cut the Flora lead to 53-46 with 3:08 left and Anthony Ray had a chance to get it to five points, but missed a layup. Reese capitalized on the other end with a layup and the Falcons hit free throws to seal it.

“I knew Midland Valley was going to make a run. They are state championship caliber program,” Staley said. “We just wanted to remember what we did all week and how we practiced. We were able to pull it out in the end.”

Young led Midland Valley with 16 points, and Daniel Carr had 12.

“The execution just wasn’t there in the first half. The second half we played the way we wanted to play the whole game. If we played that way the whole game, it would have been anybody’s game at the end. It’s hard to come back 13 down against good teams,” Midland Valley coach Mark Snelgrove said.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 9:46 PM with the headline "A.C. Flora snatches 3A boys basketball state crown from Midland Valley."