Heartbreaker For Isaac Sosa
Feb 25, 2008
By: Walter Villa
Combo guard Isaac Sosa, who starred for the Miami Tropics Nike Travel Team last summer, led his Grandview Prep team to the state semifinals by hitting a game-winning three-pointer on Saturday night.
But Sosa won't play in the state Final Four this week due to a spirit-crushing injury.
"It has been a battle for me to accept this," Sosa said in a voice filled with sorrow.
Sosa, who leads Grandview in scoring with a 19.5 average, was having another strong game in Saturday night's 68-65 Class 1A regional final win over Miami Choice Learning.
With about four minutes left in the third quarter, Sosa got out on the fast break, driving the right side of lane. Seeing the front side of the basket well-guarded, Sosa decided to try a reverse layup. Unfortunately, a Choice player kneed Sosa in the groin while trying to block his shot.
"To show you how tough Isaac is," Tropics Coach Art "Pilin" Alvarez said, "he stayed in and played the entire game. Incredibly courageous."
Not only did Sosa shake off what turned out to be a serious injury, he came up with the winning three-pointer with 39 seconds left in the game. Grandview was trailing 65-63 when Sosa hit the shot from the left wing.
Sosa said that the Grandview grand plan was not necessarily a three-pointer.
"Coach (Joe Dawson) left it for me to decide," said Sosa, the only senior in Grandveiw's starting lineup. "I saw the three-pointer open, and I took it."
Sosa finished with 21 points and was fired up that his team won and that the Pride were going to state. But once he got to the locker room, he noticed that his testicles were swollen because of the knee he had taken to his groin area.
Sosa was immediately taken to the hospital and had surgery, which will keep him out for several weeks, thus ending his dream of playing for a state championship.
Sosa faced a similar disappointment last season when Grandview made it to state. Sosa was ineligible because he had recently transferred to Grandview.
This year, Sosa was eligible, he hit the game-winning shot to get the Pride to state, he played in pain ... and yet he still ended his season in agony.
"I am still in physical pain," said Sosa, whose emotional damage was probably even worse. "But I am more disappointed than feeling hurt."
The good news for Sosa is that his basketball career is far from over. He is being recruited by several colleges, including Central Florida, FIU, Alabama-Birmingham, High Point (N.C.), Radford (Va.) and American University in Washington, D.C.
Sosa, a 6-3, 180-pound native of Puerto Rico, is also a full qualifier with a 3.9 grade-point average and a 1010 SAT score. He is interested in studying engineering.
"He will be a steal for whichever school is lucky enough to sign him because he has the grades, he has character, toughness and talent," Alvarez said. "You have not heard the last from Isaac Sosa."
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THE STATE FINALS
With Sosa out, Grandview will be a long shot to win 1A. The same can be said for Sagemont in Class 2A because Tropics guard Marlon Rivera will have to carry that team now that center Garvin Hunt is out injured.
That leaves Brandon and Lakeland Kathleen as teams with Tropics players who could possibly win a state title.
Brandon's Tropics connection is power forward Evan Ravenal, the Boston College signee who scored 23 points in the regional finals. But Brandon is unranked in Class 5A and will have to face No. 5 Lakewood in the semifinals. Even if Brandon wins there, it may have to face top-ranked Dillard in the championship game.
So that means that Lakeland Kathleen in Class 4A is the best bet to crown a Tropics player - in this case two - a 2008 state champ. Forward Kevin Foster, a George Mason signee, and point guard Miguel Paul, a Missouri recruit, are the two Tropics connections to Kathleen.
Foster and Paul have been taking turns having big games in the playoffs. On Saturday night, it was Foster who came up big with 20 points and 7 blocks, both game-highs.
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