Lakeland, FL Jacksonville Bolles won the Class 4A Boys Basketball State Championship on Thursday night, defeating Holy Trinity 46 – 39.
Bolles was led by Jonathan DeWane who finished the game with 16 points and 7 rebounds. DeWane stepped up in the place of Bulldogs starting center Collin Smith, who found himself in foul trouble throughout the game. Early in the contest Bolles and Holy Trinity went back and forth scoring at will against each other. Trinity jumped out to a quick 13-9 lead, thanks to the efforts of Tyler Forde. He would finish the game with 14 points. Forde knocked down many big shots from the perimeter as his team played with a sense of urgency. Their aggressive play prompted an early timeout by Bolles Head Coach, Anthony Candelino. After the timeout Bolles seemed to settle down and commence their style of play. Thier long guards #0 Lorenzo Lawerene and #13 Nick Strawter drove to the basket and harassed Trinity’s smaller gaurds. This approach yielded a 26-24 Bolles lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Bulldogs completely shut down Holy Trinity’s offense by swithing to a 1-3-1 defense. This seemed to catch the Tigers off gaurd as they could not get clean looks at the basket. Meanwhile, Bolles continued to pound the ball inside to DeWane and Smith. Collin finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds. He and #14 Austin Williams (6 points, 9 rebounds) controlled the paint. This was the deciding factor that lifted Bolles to its first boys basketball championship in 27 years. Congratulations to Bolles Bulldogs your 2016 Class 4A Boys Basketball State Champions!
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