Sagemont’s Tynan Becker is Broward’s 4A-2A Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year
Sagemont had several clutch contributors during its run to a third ever boys’ basketball state championship.
But at the heart of every pivotal moment within that collective success was senior guard Tynan Becker.
In a season where multiple adjustments were needed, Becker kept the Lions on course on their way to winning the school’s first state title since 2014.
As such, Becker is the Miami Herald’s Class 4A-2A boys’ basketball Player of the Year for Broward County.
Becker’s most clutch performance helped them topple seemingly daunting odds when he totaled 25 points - most of which came from six three-pointers - to lead Sagemont to a 67-66 victory over three-time defending state champion Orlando Christian Prep in the Class 2A final in Lakeland.
Becker averaged 14.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, but possibly his greatest impact was on the defensive end where he averaged a team-high 2.6 steals per game.
With Sagemont already having to adjust its style of play after graduating leading scorer Adrian Cruz from last year’s team, which came up short against OCP in the state final, Becker was one of several versatile talents that made the Lions’ adjustment easier.
“It was surprisingly very easy since everyone on our team could play at a high level,” Becker said. “When everybody could do it all, then the whole team just worked around everyone.”
But the biggest challenge for Becker and Sagemont came 10 games into the season when starting point guard Cameron Gibson went down with a season-ending injury.
The Lions had to adjust once again and really on a frontcourt that was taller overall than the previous season with 6-7 Becker and 6-8 forward Danielius Kasparas.
“Cam’s injury took us back a few and we had to rebuild a little so everyone stepped up,” Becker said. “We beat the No. 2 and 5 teams in Georgia back to back and then Cam was gone and then we had to work around Ashton Smith as a point guard.”
Sagemont dethrones three-time defending state champ and wins school’s third state title
Smith and Devontae Jean picked up the slack in Gibson’s absence. But Sagemont’s ability to play a lot of positionless basketball with versatile players like Gibson prepared them for the tough stretch and tough finishes in the playoffs like the state final when it had to close out OCP in the final seconds.
“We’ve gone through this plenty of times this season where it’s come down to the last few seconds and having that knowledge and being able to keep our heads was really helpful,” Becker said at state.
