Florida State defeats Virginia, wins seventh-grade championship

Mitch Wagner converted a free throw with no time left on the clock to give Florida State a thrilling 35-34 win over Virginia to capture the Amherst Youth Basketball seventh-grade boys championship.

Florida State grabbed the early lead and established the momentum in the opening half behind a stifling defense led by guards Joe Lesh (six steals), Mike Domachowski, Yohan Andraud and Luke Wheeler, while strong underneath play came from big men Tim O'Neil, Joe Matyjasik, Connor Gust and Wagner. Wagner paced all scorers with 21 points.

Seventh-grade boys

Maryland 31, Wake Forest 24

Wake Forest jumped to a 14-6 halftime lead behind the shooting of Michael Schake (four points) and Madison Maley (10 points).

Maryland turned up the defense in the third with Andrew Pierino, Tom Adolf and Phil Blatner cut the Wake Forest lead to 16-11.

In the fourth, Maryland's Michael Torrillo scored 14 of his game-high 19 along with five from Ben Morina (12 points).

Mark Berquist had six rebounds and a blocked shot along with solid play from Michael Steinig, Mason Schulefand and C.J. Westcott. Jack Looney and Patrick Stasiak added four points each for Wake Forest.

Maryland 40, Wake Forest 24

In an opening-round playoff game, Maryland raced to a 26-4 halftime lead.

C.J. Westcott had eight points in the half along with five points each from Michael Torrillo and Andrew Pierino.

Madison Maley led the Wake Forest rally with six points in the third.

Great offensive rebounding by Ben Morina (10 rebounds) and Mason Schulefand (eight rebounds) along with clutch shooting by leading scorer Michael Steinig (10 points) enabled Maryland to hold on.

Tom Adolf, Phil Blatner and Mark Berquist were solid defensively. Sam Burgett contributed six points in the Wake Forest effort.