Dr. Phillips basketball beats Dwyer for first state title

LAKELAND — Dr. Phillips juniors Denzel Aberdeen, Riley Kugel and Ernest Udeh Jr. have another year of high school to go, but they made sure Panthers boys basketball didn’t have to wait on the future to celebrate a long-sought state championship.

Aberdeen poured in 27 points, Kugel scored 14 and 6-foot-10 Udeh grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked six shots as DP won 54-46 against Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer on Saturday night at the RP Funding Center.

They combined to assure that after decades of trying there would be no crying for the Panthers this season. DP, which had won state titles in 10 other sports since 1990, made its seventh state tournament appearance and finally has a Florida High School Athletic Association hoops championship trophy to bring back to its Orlando campus.

“This is what I came to do,” second-year DP coach Ben Witherspoon said after watching his team jubilantly dance down one spectator sideline to slap hands and celebrate the victory with family and fans who attended the game. “I’m really proud of our kids for believing in me and believing in the program.”

The Panthers finished 24-3 and won their final 12 games after consecutive close losses to Metro Conference rivals Oak Ridge (49-47) and West Orange (48-47).

“Coach sat us down after those games and told us we had what it takes,” Aberdeen said. “We pushed each other all year just for this. We gave it all we had. It’s amazing.”

DP was ranked No. 2 in 7A behind Oak Ridge before ousting the Pioneers with a 56-44 state semifinal victory on Friday afternoon.

Witherspoon, 37, left a post as an assistant for national powerhouse Montverde Academy to return to head coaching last season. He was briefly head coach for Cypress Creek.

Things did get a bit scary at the end for a program that made its seventh state tournament appearance and finally won the big prize.

Dr. Phillips led 32-20 after a shot by Aberdeen rolled off the rim but into the hands of Udeh, who dunked the rebound two minutes into the second quarter. Dwyer steadily chipped away at that deficit and got to within 41-40 with 5:08 to go in the game.

But the Panthers held Dwyer (14-4) to one basket in the final 4:26 to preserve the precious victory.

Aberdeen, who did most of his damage on dribble drives into the lane, knocked down a step-back 3-point shot to make it 44-40. On the next trip downcourt, he attacked the paint but surprised the defense by flicking a look-away lob pass to Udeh, who rose high above the rim to catch the ball and drop it in for a 46-42 advantage.

“Denzel is one of the best point guards in the state,” Witherspoon said. “The kid wants the ball in the big moments and I want to give it to him.”

DP beat Dwyer’s press to get a layup by senior Ledger Hatch for a 51-44 margin in the final minute.

Aberdeen made 10 of his 11 free throws. Kugel was 5-of-6 and DP was 18-of-24 as a team.

Kugel was a ninth grader on Central Florida Christian Academy’s 2A title team two years ago. He transferred to DP over the summer.

“This is way different,” he said. “It means more to me because I played a bigger role for this team. We knew the chemistry was there for this team at the jump. Since the start of summer conditioning.”

The victory is a landmark for a highly decorated DP program that has produced the likes of former 10-year NBA player Damien Wilkins, current Euroleague MVP Shane Larkin and former Ole Miss standout Chris Warren, who scored 38 points in a heartbreaking 80-77 overtime state final loss to Pompano Beach Ely in 2007. That was the first of three state runner-up finishes.

DP also lost three times in state semifinals in the 90s.

Those disappointments are now in the shadow of Saturday’s high point for a program that came close to breaking a state record when it won 20 or more games 22 seasons in a row from 1993 through the 2014-15 season under the direction of former coaches Theo McWhite and Anthony Long.

“Now we’ve got to defend,” Aberdeen said of next season. “We’ll come back 10 times harder. Nothing’s promised. Nothing’s guaranteed.”