HIGH-SCHOOL

Preview: Impact vs. Orlando Christian Prep

Staff Writer

Florida Times-Union

CLASS 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

RP Funding Center, Lakeland

4:30 p.m. Friday

Impact Christian (19-8) vs. Orlando Christian Prep (28-2): Can Impact Christian go from the birth of a program to a state championship in four years? That's their reality if they can knock off Orlando Christian Prep. But that's no easy feat: The Warriors have won 19 games in a row, ever since going down 44-42 to St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.) on Dec. 30. On average, they're outscoring their opponents 68-45. Sophomores Anthony Brown and Ven Allen Lubin both average more than 13 points per game, and counting Omar Figueroa and Sam Ihekwoaba, OCP has four genuine scoring threats. But few teams in Class 2A can match the resilience of the Lions, who have won each of their last three games by two-point margins and battled from 12 points down to defeat Schoolhouse Prep in Wednesday’s semifinal. Jordin Jackson and Calvin Johnson hit clutch baskets down the stretch in that game, two seasoned starters on a lineup with the speed and length to give opponents fits. If Impact has a secret weapon, it might be sophomore Devean Knowles, who appeared off the bench to drain a pair of crucial 3-pointers to help tip the balance in the fourth quarter Wednesday.

Clayton Freeman/The Times-Union