What an unbelievable senior night for the Boys' Basketball team! The Dragons pulled out a thrilling overtime victory over St. Johns Classical School, 44-41. The Dragons only had seven players dressed, with five out due to illness. During the walkthrough, Coach Kalis expressed his excitement about this opportunity for the boys to grow. 

"I urged the team to show them how good we are, especially the 11-point loss to them earlier in the year with an entire team," he said. "Facing any new situation, we must recognize this as an excellent opportunity for overall team growth. The key, I emphasized, was teamwork." 

The team applied a full-court press for nearly the entire game. They stayed persistent and were up 15-5 early on. Joey Seppala was on fire, and the defense was stellar. However, the Dragons struggled to execute their game plan and only took an 18-12 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, St. Johns exploded with a 16-2 run, putting FSDB down 28-20 entering the fourth quarter. The Dragons reconvened, stressing the importance of consistency and doing the right things. With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Coach Kalis called a final timeout to reevaluate their strategy. Down 32-25 with 2:30 left, Coach Kalis told a fan, "Anything can happen in the final 2:30."

In the pursuing minutes, St. Johns scored, extending their lead to 9 (34-25). Dylan Bellorin-Santos hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner, cutting St. Johns lead to 6 (34-28). With 34.5 seconds remaining, Henry Essex was fouled and sent to the free-throw line. He made 1 of 2, cutting the lead to 5 (34-29).

On the ensuing inbound, Henry Essex poked the ball out of the opponent's hand and straight to Micah Engelman, who was promptly fouled. He sank both free throws, bringing the score to 34-31.

The Dragons defense pressed hard and forced St. Johns to call back-to-back timeouts. With 13.4 seconds left on the clock, St. Johns inbounded the ball to their center. Ja'Morien Scott applied pressure, causing him to dribble away and turn his back to Dylan Bellorin-Santos, who snuck in from behind and swiped the ball away. It flew into the hands of Robert Essex Jr., who then quickly passed it up to Dylan on a fast break. St. Johns fouled Dylan, stopping him from making a run at the basket.

Still down three points, Coack Kalis called Dylan to the sideline and told him to make the first free throw. Then, on the second shot, try to hit it off the rim, get the rebound, and score.

Dylan hit the first free throw, which was a must. With only 5 seconds remaining on the clock, Dylan flawlessly executed the second shot. He hit the front of the rim, grabbed the rebound, and threw up a right-handed floater that kissed off the backboard, tying up the game and sending it into overtime.

The Dragons won the tipoff, and Micah Engelman immediately scored on an easy layup. The defense applied a full-court press throughout overtime, and the team never looked back, winning 44-41. 

"Our Dragons fans were electrified, stomping on the bleachers during crucial moments, creating an intense atmosphere," exclaimed Kalis.

Team Stats
Field Goal: 14-42 33.7%
Free Throw: 12-27 44.4% (season high FT attempts)
Transition 12
Rebounds: 50 (16 OFF)
Assists: 9
Steals: 22 (Season best)
Blocks: 7 (Season Best)
Turnovers: 43 (mostly in the late 2Q and 3Q).

Player Stats:
Micah Engelman: 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block. (A great wrap up of his senior career with several clutch plays!)
Henry Essex: 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block
Dylan Bellorin-Santos: 11 points, 12 rebounds (4 OFF), 4 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks
Robert Essex Jr: 1 point, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 7 deflections
Ja'Morien Scott: 2 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Lucas Guzman: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals
Joseph Seppala: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks. (What a stellar performance for his final home game of his career)