Dustin Kent
Floridan Sports Editor
Published: February 23, 2008

For the first time since 1985, the Marianna Bulldogs are going to the Final Four.

Brandon Gibson scored 19 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 52-45 victory over Florida High Saturday night in the 3A Regional Finals in Marianna.

The win pushes MHS into Wednesday’s state semifinal matchup with Pine Crest in Lakeland.

“Unexplainable,” Bulldogs coach Travis Blanton said after the game. “The kids deserve it. They’ve played together, worked hard for each other and stuck together all year.”

If the Bulldogs beat Pine Crest, they’ll play for the 3A state championship Friday against the winner of P.K. Yonge and Dunbar.

Wednesday’s game will mark the first semifinal appearance for Marianna since 1985 when Blanton was a player for the Bulldogs.

“It’s been a long time,” the coach said.

Indeed it has. Blanton’s 1985 Bulldogs defeated Port St. Joe in the Regional Finals before falling to Jacksonville Bolles in the state semis.

“Back then, we made a pact that we would get there,” Blanton said of himself and his teammates on that 1985 squad. “(The current Bulldogs players) had the same dream and the same drive to get there, except they’re a better team than we were.

“I hope we can make some noise when we get down there.”

The Bulldogs made plenty of noise Saturday night, though the ending of the game was a bit more dramatic than they would have preferred.

MHS jumped out to a 17-10 lead in a low-scoring first half, then withstood a Seminoles rally in the third that pulled Florida High to within a bucket after three quarters.

The first seven minutes of the fourth quarter was all Bulldogs, as C.J. Blount and Gibson took control of the game by scoring the first 11 MHS points of the period.

After a Blount two to start the fourth, a 3-point play by Kenny Cunningham brought Florida High to within a point at 29-28, but Gibson responded with consecutive baskets, the second being a two-handed dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy with 6:03 to play.

A driving layup and a short jumper by Blount pushed the Marianna advantage to 37-28 with 5:14 to play.

A layup by Tyler Wilson followed by a pair of free throws by Gibson and two more by Derrian Bell gave the Bulldogs a 48-35 lead with 1:12 on the clock.

However, the Seminoles would stick around by getting to the foul line 11 times, making seven, in the final minute and taking advantage of several MHS miscues.

A 3-pointer by Cunningham brought the Seminoles to within 50-43 with 37.8 seconds to play and, after two missed MHS free throws, Aaron Clark got fouled on a 3-point attempt and made 2-of-3 at the line to make it 50-45 with 27.4 to play.

After the Bulldogs missed two more free throws, Florida High had an opportunity to get even closer, but Clark missed a 3-pointer and Blount grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 17.5 seconds to play.

Blount made both free throws to end any notion of a Seminoles comeback.

“It wasn’t real pretty in the fourth quarter,” Blanton said of the game. “But our guys stuck together and fought it out.

“We’re going to have to play better Wednesday though.”