Coral Gables basketball gets ‘monkey off the back’ with first district title since 2016

Frank Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York” blared over the speakers inside the gymnasium at Coral Gables Senior High School and Humberto Govea kept fighting back tears as he talked about what it took for Coral Gables to get its 69-52 win against Columbus on Friday in the District 15-Class 7A championship.

It was Govea’s first district title and it came a year after an upset loss as the No. 1 seed, then came the COVID-19 pandemic and Coral Gables’ offseason plans were thrown into disarray. Instead of organized team activities, Desmond Romer and the Cavaliers organized themselves to play in parks across Miami-Dade County in the summer when Govea couldn’t coach them. On the blacktops, Coral Gables honed Govea’s “New York” defense and the Cavaliers rode it to their first district title since 2016.

“This,” the Coral Gables boys’ basketball coach said, “is the monkey off the back.”

The Cavaliers (14-4) held the Explorers (14-7) to just four points in the first quarter to build an early-double digit lead, then held them to 12 in the third to pull away for a blowout win in the district championship. Romer, Coral Gables’ senior leader and a first-team all-county selection by the Miami Herald last year, led the Cavaliers with 20 points and fellow guard Romulo Delgado added 16 to finish off the district title in Coral Gables. Columbus wing Reggie Luis led all scorers with 26 points in the loss.

The Cavaliers, who fell to eventual state champion Miramar in the region semifinals last year, will open the region playoffs Thursday against Palmetto in the Region 4-Class 7A quarterfinals in Coral Gables. The Explorers will go on the road to face Ferguson on Thursday in Miami in the Region 4-7A quarterfinals after the Falcons upset the Panthers in the District 16-7A championship Friday.

“We were one year too early. We were young,” Govea said. “Everybody was hungry — that’s not what I’m questioning — but we were definitely, I feel, one year too young. We needed to go through the grind.”

Two losses in three games to end last season left Coral Gables frustrated at the end of the year. Cavaliers forward Kuran Bryant, one of their top players, missed the entire postseason with an injury and Coral Gables blew a six-point lead to the Patriots in the region semifinals. From afar, the Cavaliers followed along as Miramar won the 7A championship. They knew most of their core would be back. With a good offseason, Coral Gables could make a real push for a state title.

Govea, who is originally from New Jersey, dubs his defense “New York” because off its high-effort, playground-style intensity — it requires a toughness synonymous with New York, East Coast basketball.

It was fitting, then, for the Cavaliers to hone it outside the gym. With Govea unable to instruct, Romer, Bryant and Delgado became Coral Gables’ de facto coaches, organizing workouts at whatever park they could find. Some days they practiced at Miami’s Douglas Park, right by the school. Other times, they gathered in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami or even trekked all the way out to Miami Beach, and these weren’t just pickup games — Romer and the Cavaliers ran defensive drills to perfect their system.

“Everybody was dedicated. We wanted it this year,” Romer said. “We dive on floors, we get loose balls — everything. We play hard.”

Said Govea: “He represents Miami-Dade County.”

Exactly two weeks earlier, Coral Gables pulled out a five-point win against Columbus in the Greater Miami Athletic Conference championship after nearly blowing a lead. For the second straight meeting, the Cavaliers went up big early. Delgado scored seven points in the first quarter and Bryant drained a three-pointer with 25 seconds left in period to give the Coral Gables a 15-4 lead. By halftime, the Explorers had trimmed it down to 30-24. Govea implored his Cavaliers to reignite their intensity.

“We needed to put our knuckles on the floor and play our ‘New York,’” he said.

Romer scored seven points in the third quarter, as Coral Gables’ pressure created chance after chance in the open floor and the Cavaliers built a 49-36 lead. Coral Gables opened the fourth quarter on a 7-3 run — with five points from Romer — and the Explorers couldn’t stage a comeback this time.

When it ended, Romer carried the district trophy into a mob of teammates and coaches. They had longed for this for five years, since Govea took over as coach five years earlier. In a year of unusual circumstances, the Cavaliers finally had finally done it.

“I think if the Chicago Bulls played us tonight,” Govea said, “they wouldn’t have had a chance.”