Rivers Leads Team To State Championship

Austin Rivers ended his high school basketball career at Winter Park as a two-time Class 6A state champion on Saturday in Lakeland. In a rematch of last year’s finale, the Wildcats won 52-44 over Dr. Phillips behind a game-high 25 points from Rivers. The Duke signee shot just 8-of-25 from the field but pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Neither team shot particularly well as Winter Park (28-5) went just 4-of-20 from beyond the arc and Dr. Phillips (27-6) finished 3-of-19 from long range. The Panthers also struggled from the free throw line, going 5-of-15 on the night. Winter Park led by six points for much of the second half before the Panthers tied the game at 34-all with five minutes to play. Dr. Phillips closed the gap when they got a layup and free throw from Shane Larkin, followed by a 3-pointer by Isaac Lane. The Wildcats took over from there, though, as Rivers ignited an 11-0 run with a 3-pointer of his own. Three buckets from BillyDee Williams and a tip-in by Brett Comer f...