- February 25, 2026
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Keith Potter reluctantly departed the hardwood and walked past his teammates on the bench, shaking his head.
He sat down, put his face in his hands and watched the final minutes tick away.
The guard had transferred to Braden River for his senior season as a high school basketball player. He left Southeast behind, hoping to go out with a bang.
Along with six other seniors, he will have to settle for something less.
Dominated from start to finish, the No. 3 seeded Braden River boys basketball team (23-7) suffered a 66-41 loss to host St. Petersburg, the No. 2 seed, in the FHSAA Class 5A-Region 3 semifinals Feb. 20.
The program’s winningest season since 2011-12 came screeching to a stop. There will be no chance to play for a regional title.
“They took the momentum from the beginning,” said Braden River Coach Dwight Gilmer. “Ever since then, we were chopping wood trying to get back into it.”
The numbers seemed to favor the Pirates as they entered the postseason. They had won 12 of their last 13 contests by an average of 21.6 points per game. In that span, the only defeat came at the hands of Parrish Community — now a 25-3 squad — by three points.
Ahead of regionals, Braden River still hadn’t lost by 20 or more points in 2025-26. Only once had the team been held to 41 or less on the offensive end.
St. Petersburg cruised anyway. It roared to a 12-1 lead in the first four minutes, punctuated by a thunderous jam that forced Gilmer to burn a timeout to try to settle down his players.
Ball security was an issue early for the Pirates, and when they did hold onto it, shots failed to fall. That cascaded into a 23-6 deficit by the end of the opening quarter.
“We didn’t defend them to the level I thought we would,” Gilmer said. “We went in with a game plan, and in that first quarter, we didn’t execute it.”
Junior guard Anquan Polynice tried to inject some life into the offense with a layup in heavy traffic before hitting a contested 3-pointer on successive possessions in the second quater. As their leading scorer with 13.5 points per game, his teammates look to him in those situations.
The second quarter, though, proved to be an extension of earlier struggles.
The Green Devils piled on the points by getting to the rim with ease. And in doing so, they earned opportunities at the free throw line, which they largely converted.
Missed shots, meanwhile, worked against the Pirates. Trailing 37-13 entering the locker room, they faced their largest halftime deficit all season.
“Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in the basket, but when it doesn’t, you’ve got to figure out other ways to win and keep fighting,” Gilmer said. “I don’t know if we did that tonight.”
St. Petersburg eliminated junior guard Anthony Bailey almost entirely from Braden River’s offensive equation. The Sumner transfer, who had averaged 12.9 points per game this season, was held to 2 points.
On the other end, the Pirates were presented with the puzzle of limiting Nijaun Harris — a four-star recruit with 10 NCAA Division I offers as a sophomore. He wound up with a game-high 23 points despite a defensive game plan that was designed around him.
“He was the focal point,” Gilmer said. “Everything starts and ends with him for them. They do a really good job getting him the ball in creative ways. He’s a four-star for a reason.”
The second half featured zone defense from the Green Devils, and unlike the first, the Pirates were able to get more of their desired looks.
Regardless of their rhythm, there was much ground to make up. Too much.
St. Petersburg never allowed Braden River back into the contest. With four minutes to go in the final quarter, the score ballooned to 62-28.
Polynice produced a team-high 19 points to conclude his time as a junior.
“He kept fighting. He was the one who was able to get into a groove,” Gilmer said. “We just needed a couple of our other guys to hit some shots, and maybe we’d be looking at a different outcome.”
This group of Pirates was an assembly of talents from various basketball backgrounds. Among their top-seven scorers, Polynice is the only one who was with the team last season.
In addition to Potter and Bailey, they welcomed junior forward Jalen Byrd from Southeast and senior forward Noah Butler from Brophy College Prep (AZ) for 2025-26. Senior guard Kerry Peacock and junior forward Jaron Blanding both came over from Manatee.
The juniors among them can stick around for another ride. It’s the end of the road, though, for the seniors, whether they stuck it out at Braden River or transferred in searching for success.
“I’m very proud of these guys,” Gilmer said. “We’ve asked a lot of them, and for the most part, they’ve delivered.”
