Hoop scoop: Holiday tournament highlights
Buzzer beaters. Heartbreak. Upsets. There were plenty of each Saturday night as several holiday basketball tournaments came to a close.
There was an exciting end to a successful inaugural Tampa Hoops Classic (more on that in a later blog), which pitted several strong teams - and prospects - from around the nation. The championship game, won by Orlando Olympia (99-97 over Humble (Tex) Christian Life) was the best high school basketball game I've ever seen.
Kudos to the bay area champions, like Tampa Prep, Jesuit and Calvary Christian (boys) and Clearwater and Bloomingdale (girls).
To wrap up the holiday tournament season, we'll break down the emerging stars and top performances (click below)
-- JOE SMITH
**Oh-so-close Award (Berkeley Prep boys) -- The Bucs, ranked No. 1 in the Times Hillsborough Super Seven, rattled off impressive wins over Lakeland Kathleen, Eastside and Lakewood in a three day stretch, then lost on a buzzer-beater in the championship of the prestigious Kingdom of the Sun Tournament in Ocala.
Berkeley tied the game at 62 thanks to Austin Suarez, who banked in a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left. But But Powder Springs (Ga.) star Trae Golden (36 points), the tourney MVP, nailed a trey at the buzzer to clinch the title.
The Bucs became a darling of the tourney, which boasted several nationally-ranked teams. Now they'll have their eyes set on a Jan 12 matchup with Tampa Prep, which has won 10 straight
*Hottest teams
(Boys) Tampa Prep - The Terps have won back to back tournament titles in consecutive weekends - rattling off 10 straight wins. Tampa Prep, led by David Waller's 30 point, 10 rebound, MVP performance, beat Providence by 22 points to claim the Keswick Christian Tourney title.
The Terps had an even more impressive tourney title last weekend, taking the City of Tampa Classic with back-to-back wins over Plant (12-2) and Chamberlain.
"It's been a different guy every night," Terps coach Joe Fenlon said. "We've got great balance."
(Girls) Bloomingdale -- The Bulls wrapped up the Riverview Holiday Tournament title Saturday night with a 46-42 win over previously unbeaten Tampa Bay Tech (16-1). Bloomingdale senior guard Paris Moore (26 points) made nine of 10 free throws in the last four minutes to seal the back-and-forth thriller.
The Bulls have won 10 straight, with their only losses to TBT, Plant and Freedom - each of whom are in the Times Super Seven. Not too shabby.
**Comeback kids --
(Girls) Clearwater -- The Tornadoes (16-2) beat their first two opponents in the Jaguar Holiday Classic (including host Holy Names) by a combined 133-40. They then capped off their title run with a 58-54 come from behind win over one of the other bay area powers, St. Petersburg Catholic; in the matchup, the Tornadoes roared back from nine down with six minutes to go. Clearwater's pressure defense, and aggressive offense, helped them become one of the few teams to actually slow down the Barons Ms. Everything, Indiana bound forward Sasha Chaplin (two points in second half).
(boys) Calvary Christian -- The Warriors, one of Pinellas County's top teams, overcame a 7-point second half deficit to beat Middleton, 57-56 in the championship of the Gulf Coast Holiday Tournament in Manatee. Sophomore guard Montana Brown, a transfer from Bradenton Prep playing in just his third game this season, came up huge at the line and forward Marcos Quinones earned tourney MVP honors. Tigers forward Khiry Anfield, the tourney's offensive MVP, missed a potential game-winning runner at the buzzer
**Breakthrough team
Plant boys -- Panthers coach Mike Phillips said he was "scared to death" heading into this weekend's Tampa Hoops Classic, which pitted several of the top players - and teams- in the nation against some of bay area's best. After all, Plant was coming off a disappointing finish in last week's City of Tampa Classic (quadruple OT loss to Chamberlain).
But the Panthers earned their stripes in the inagural tourney, going 3-1 with wins over Galena (Nevada) and Jacksonville Robert E. Lee. Plant's 53-45 win over Lee Saturday in the consolation championship was the "best defensive effort we've had," Phillips said.
***Top Individual Performances
*Plant junior Sheldon Cooley -- Two days after he went toe to toe with Nevada-bound guard Luke Babbitt (one of the nation's top seniors), Cooley poured in 29 points to help lift the Panthers to a win over defending 5A state semifinalist Lee.
*Berkeley Prep forward Christian Reintgen -- He is often the forgotten starter in the Bucs balanced unit, but was the biggest reason why Berkeley Prep advanced to the final of the Kingdom of the Sun tournament in Ocala. Reintgen (18 points), who had 37 points in a two game stretch, was named to the All-Tournament team.
Not bad for a kid who averaged just 6 points a game coming in.
"He was awesome," Berkeley Prep coach Bobby Reinhart said.
*Bloomingdale senior Paris Moore -- One of the county's top players, Moore showed why Saturday night, racking up 26 points - including nine of 10 from the FT line down the stretch - to lift the Bulls to a 46-42 upset of previously unbeaten Tampa Bay Tech.
* Clearwater’s Keona Dixon - Scored a team-high 22 in win over St. Petersburg Catholic and was named the Jaguar Holiday Tournament MVP.
*Middleton senior Khiry Anfield - The Tigers spark plug had 20-plus points in the team's first two wins, then nearly lifted them to a tournament title at the Gulf Coast Holiday Classic (his runner as time expired just missed in the Tigers 57-56 loss to Calvary Christian)
*Calvary Christian sophomore Montana Brown -- The transfer from Bradenton Prep, in just his third game back following knee surgery, hit some huge free throws down the stretch to lift the Warriors to the tourney title. Forward Marcos Quinones may have been tourney MVP, but Brown will be huge part of the Warriors success going forward with his play at point guard.
The Warriors, led Friday by Emmanuel Delgado's 16 points, beat Gibbs en route to the final.
Miss anyone? I'm sure I did, so let me know
The St. Petersburg Times High School Sports blog is written and compiled by the Times preps sports staff from Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties. We invite your participation in the comments area.
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