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Photo I. Hanewicz

On Friday night, another matchup between Robinson (16-10) and Jesuit (23-5) turned into another close game. With the 5A-District 9 championship on the line, the Knights led at halftime, but the Tigers put up a strong second half to come away with a 64-61 victory and their fifth straight district title.

“Unfortunately, Jesuit made a few more plays than we did,” Robinson head coach Steve Smith said. “[I’m] proud of my guys. I thought we fought like heck. We played a great game.”

Robinson held a one-point lead at halftime after Kris Terry (’17) made a layup with seconds left in the second quarter.

Jesuit started the second half on a 12-3 run, but the Knights fought back to get within one at the end of the third quarter. From there, the Tigers had just enough, hitting clutch free throws down the stretch to escape with a win.

Iyan Mitchell (’16) led Robinson with 20 points. Terry finished with 12 while Francisco Mediavilla (’16) put up 11. Jesuit’s Stephen Darst (‘17) had a game-high 23 points and D.J. Snyder (’16) added 15.

The Knights will head to Sebring (20-8) next Thursday for the regional quarterfinals. The winner advances to the regional semifinals, where they will meet the winner of the Jesuit-Lake Wales game. After playing the Tigers close three times this year, Smith said his team wants another shot.

“I thought it was a heck of a high school basketball game tonight,” Smith said. “There were a lot of great plays on both sides and hopefully we get a chance to see them again.”

Tipoff for next Thursday’s regional quarterfinal matchup is set for 7 p.m. at Sebring High School (3514 Kenilworth Blvd, Sebring, FL 33870).