The Stranahan boys basketball team turned a blind eye to the “outside noise” and won its third Class 5A state championship in the past four seasons with a 64-40 rout of St. Petersburg on Saturday afternoon at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
After the game, the Dragons said they had played with the memories of three people at the forefront of their minds, all of whom died in 2020.
One of the deceased was former guard Jahkari Fye, who would have been a senior on this year’s team.
Fye, a reserve guard on the 2019-20 championship squad, died 18 months ago at 16 from a rare medical condition.
“He’s always going to be a part of our program,” Schuler said. “He was our engine.”
Houston Culpepper, who had 10 points and seven rebounds Saturday, is a son of former Miami Dolphins quarterback Daunte Culpepper and wore the No. 13 jersey.
The senior wore the “1? in memory of Fye, and the “3? for his late sister, Aysia. Aysia Culpepper died in a car accident on March 7, 2020, coincidentally the same day Stranahan had won its previous state title, with another of her brothers, Chayse, as a key contributor.
The school’s head athletic trainer Jimmy Jefferson also passed away in 2020. The team missed the playoffs last season in a COVID-shortened year and finished 5-5.
Stranahan junior Hykeem Williams scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lift the Dragons (27-3) to the win, while senior Tamarrien Thorpe scored 11 points.
“We had to overcome some tough losses who were all key to the team,” said Williams, who is also a four-star prospect as a wide receiver. “Jahkari was a key player. Coach J was a great trainer. Man, we just put our focus on what we needed to accomplish and they are still with us in spirit.”
Stranahan’s defense was in lockdown mode as it forced 28 turnovers and limited the Green Devils to 15-of-42 shooting (35.7%) en route to its seventh straight win.
St. Petersburg (25-6) took its only lead of the game at 2-0 on a basket by Dylan Kramer with 5:28 left in the first quarter. Kramer scored 14 points in a losing effort.
From there, it was all Stranahan as the Dragons led 12-6 after the first and 25-10 at halftime. They kept the pressure on and the Green Devils got as close as 40-29 with 2:45 left in the third period before the Dragons pulled away.
“It wasn’t really a game,” Schuler said. “We had a defensive mindset and wanted to jump on them early like there was no tomorrow. We also preach to them to close the door in the third quarter on the team to clip the rope and let them go. We had the same defensive intensity in the second half and it led to the big lead.
“What I will remember most about this year is the doubt that everybody had,” Schuler said. “They said we couldn’t do it. We lost the coach and the kids never did it on their own, so I gave them goals to win districts, regionals, and state. We accomplished all three goals.”
St. Petersburg was back in the championship game for the sixth time in program history but came up short in seeking their first state title since 1933.
Gary Curreri is a Sun Sentinel correspondent.
