Bartow back in final 4 with win over Kathleen

LAKELAND — Thanks to an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter, the Bartow boys basketball team will be back at the RP Funding Center next week looking to win its second Class 6A state championship in a row.

The fourth-quarter run propelled the Yellow Jackets to a 71-59 win over Kathleen in the Class 6A, Region 2 final Friday night at Kathleen’s Willie Speed Gymnasium.

Bartow (19-4) will play Ocala Forest in the Class 6A semifinals at the RP Funding Center Thursday at 6 p.m. Forest defeated Tallahassee Lincoln 50-47 Friday night.

“It’s been a tough road to get back (to the state semifinals) but we’re back,” Bartow coach Terrence McGriff said. “Let’s see if we can do something with it.”

Bartow, which will be going for its sixth boys basketball state championship, won last year’s Class 6A state championship with a 66-61 overtime win over Fort Lauderdale Dillard.

Friday night’s game at Kathleen was the third meeting between the two Polk County rivals this season. The teams split their two games during the regular season.

“We know each other well, we play each other twice a year,” Kathleen coach Andrae Shaw said. “It was going to be a battle and we both know that.”

The score was tied at 31 at the half. Kathleen put together a 7-0 run to the end the half after Bartow had taken a 31-24 lead heading into the final minute.

“They (the Red Devils) did a good job on the boards, they got to the free throw line in the first half,” McGriff said. “In the second half when we spread it, we got to the free throw line a little bit.”

Walter Clayton had 19 of his game-high 30 points in the first half. In the second half, other Yellow Jackets players stepped up.

K.J. Parker was the key scorer during Bartow’s fourth-quarter spurt that put the game away, scoring 13 of his 19 points in the second half.

Bartow led 48-42 heading into the fourth quarter. Kathleen cut it to 50-46 when Bartow put together its 11-0 run. Parker scored six of the Yellow Jackets’ 11 points, and Amarion Frazier capped the run with a 3-pointer giving Bartow a 61-46 lead with 4:45 to play.

“They made a few shots and went on a run and we could never recover,” Shaw said.

Kathleen got as close as 64-57 on a 3-pointer by Andrae Shaw Jr., who led the Red Devils with 15 points. The Yellow Jackets made five of six from the line and Parker scored on a layup to put it out of reach.

Depth was also a factor in the late-game run McGriff said.

“Because of injuries, because of Covid, we’ve had to play a lot of different lineups this year and that helped us in this situation,” McGriff said. “We’re probably a little deeper. When we spread it to 15, they were probably wearing out. We just wore them out a little bit.”

In addition to his 30 points, Clayton also had nine rebounds and seven assists. Malcolm Dewberry added 10 points for Bartow.

For Kathleen (14-5) Marcellus Thomas had 12 points and Jimmie Huff had 10 and seven assists.