Tevin Florent had 17 points to lead Kissimmee Osceola to a 59-47 win against Apopka Wekiva in the Florida Class 9A boys basketball championship on Saturday.
Osceola (29-2) held a 28-14 lead at halftime and pushed it to 32-16 early in the third period, but Wekiva began to chip away at the deficit behind the play of Paul Reed and Jeremy Johnson.
A 3-point play from Johnson followed by a 3-pointer from Reed capped an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 32-24. The Kowboys got the lead back into double digits with a basket from Omar Payne but the Mustangs answered with more strong interior play from Reed and a 3-pointer from Keon Morris that made it 35-33 late in the third period.
Isiah Palermo kept the Kowboys out front by scoring on three consecutive trips down the floor to give Osceola a 46-41 lead with 2:57 remaining.
Wekiva could not answer as Osceola continued to extend the lead with free throws, hitting 9 of 10 from the line in the final two minutes.
Palermo had 15 points and six rebounds for Osceola. Reed had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead Wekiva while Johnson added nine points.