Impact Christian beats Southwest Florida Christian 69-54 to advance to 2A final

LAKELAND   | When his team struggled from committing turnovers and missed shots during the third quarter in Wednesday's Class 2A semifinal game, Impact Christian coach Ben Jones didn't have a look of concern.

He stood in front of his team's bench still looking confident as he urged his players to continue to contest shots and stay within the flow of the offense against Southwest Florida Christian.

The Lions showed once again that they could overcome a little adversity to keep their state title hopes alive. Impact Christian (20-8) closed out the final quarter on a dominating 23-4 run to put away Southwest Florida Christian 69-54 at the RP Funding Center. 

Extending their winning streak to nine straight, the Lions are back in the Class 2A championship game for the second consecutive season, with a rematch on Saturday at 10 a.m. against 26-0 Orlando Christian Prep, which beat Boca Raton Grandview Prep 71-32 in the other 2A semifinal game played on Wednesday.

''We kind of challenged them in the fourth to kind of take some pride and stay in front of their guy and let's come together and lock up and they rose to the occasion,'' Jones said about his team's decisive fourth-quarter spurt. ''Our guys have responded to challenges and they've been resilient. We've fought through a lot. I felt like a lot of those obstacles would help us as we got around this time and I think it showed tonight.''

Center Calvin Johnson led Impact Christian with 21 points and forward Ivan Lawson had 15.  Guard Julio Lopez led Southwest Florida Christian with 14, but the Lions made only 4-of-13 shots from beyond the arc. 

Despite leading by as much as 10 in the second quarter that led to a 35-29 halftime lead, the Lions stumbled out of the gate in the third quarter. They committed three turnovers and missed three shots on their first six possessions to open the quarter. Southwest Florida Christian took advantage by going on a 21-11 run that led to a 50-46 lead at the end of the third quarter.

It turned out to be the wake-up call Impact Christian needed because once the fourth quarter started, they appeared to be unstoppable against the smaller Southwest Florida Christian Kings.

Johnson's close-range bucket helped pull Impact Christian to within 50-48, then Jordan Mikell got behind Southwest Florida Christian's zone for two layups. A quick 8-0 spurt turned into a 54-50 lead for Impact Christian and it never looked back. Southwest Christian didn't make its first shot in the fourth quarter until 2:23 remained when Darren Roberts made a 3-pointer. By then, Impact Christian only needed to reach the finish line because a 21-3 run led to a 68-54 lead. 

''I feel like we've been through this before, last year we were down and we came back,'' Johnson said. 

Now, the biggest test of the season awaits Impact Christian on Saturday against Orlando Christian Prep, which ranks first among all schools in the FHSAA ranking system. Impact Christian lost to OCP 65-35 in December and 58-44 in last year's state championship game.

''We've been putting in work all year for them,'' Johnson said. ''They are a real good team and we've got to be ready for them.''