SEFFNER — Tampa Prep's Adonis Rwabigwi scored 21 to lead the Terrapins to their eighth consecutive district title, 63-33 over host Seffner Christian in the Class 3A, District 8 final Saturday.
Tampa Prep jumped ahead early on a scrappy Crusaders team that made it to the finals by getting past Brooks-DeBartolo, and then it coasted to its 25th win. The Terrapins advance to a region quarterfinal against Lakeland Christian, which has lost only two games this year as well.
While coach Joe Fenlon says his Terrapins love to play together, a lot of credit has to go to the 6-foot-8 Rwanda native Rwabigwi, who is heading to Furman next year.
"Adonis had a good game, and he needed that good game," Fenlon said. "He's been getting a lot of looks in the lane and usually gets banged a lot. He was really playing aggressive tonight and went to the rim hard. And when Adonis is going to the rim hard with the size he is, people tend to get out of his way."
The Crusaders held the ball for more than a minute before even attempting the game's first basket. But that put the Terps into a defensive stance, disrupting passes and blocking shots.
"It's hard to get high school kids to play with defensive intensity every game, and we set a precedent with our kids," Fenlon said. "One of our goals every game is to keep our opponents under 60 points, and the kids pride themselves on that. When they look at the scoreboard, they keep working."
Juwan Durham had 14 points for the Terrapins while Josh Heath added eight.
Barrett Swartz had 14 points while Kent Hegarty chipped in 11 for Seffner Christian (14-13).