22 Dec 2021

City of Palms Classic – Orlando Dr. Phillips vs. Greensboro (NC) Day

This is the consolation championship and both teams would like to go back home with a 3-1 record from Fort Myers.

The Bengals of Greensboro Day got on the board first with a free throw from Jaydon Young .   Riley Kugle of DP answered with a three.  Two free throws from the Bengals C.J. Collins tied the score at 3-3.  Greensboro took the lead with a three from Young with just under four minutes to play.  For the next two minutes, neither team scored and it wasn’t pretty.  Mason Sheffield of DP broke the drought with a mid-range jumper and after one quarter of play, Greensboro led by one, 6-5.

The Panthers of Dr. Phillips were the first team to get off the ground in the second quarter.  A three point play from Ernest Udeh, a mid-range jumper from Jackson Slater and a three point play from Denzel Aberdeen game them a 13-6 lead.  The Bengals got on the board with a jumper from Michael Zanoni but DP responded with a putback jam from Udeh.  Two free throws for Greensboro’s Graham Worland cut the gap, but a three from Slater and a driving basket from Kugle made it a ten point game, 20-10, in favor of DP with 2:44 left in the half.  Greensboro Day closed out the second quarter with five points, the last a three from Nick Graves to make the halftime score 20-15 in favor of Dr. Phillips.

Young hit a bucket inside to get the Bengals within three but a bucket inside from Udeh and a drive from Jordan Tillery pushed the Panther lead to 24-17.  Collins put back a miss for Greensboro but two free throws from Udeh and a mid-range jumper from Kugle stretched the lead to 28-19 with just over five minutes to play in the third.  Zanoni got the Bengals back on the board and from that point on in the quarter the teams would trade baskets.  Going into the final period, DP led seven, 32-25.

Greensboro put together a 7-0 run as Graves hit one of two free throws and Worland connected on two free throws and then knocked down a three.  All of a sudden, with 5:29 to play, it was a one point game in favor of DP, 32-31.  The Panthers responded with an impressive 10-0 run as Udeh put back a miss, Slater hit a three, and Tillery contributed five points.  Now with 2:33 to play, DP was up eleven at 42-31.  The Panthers would hold the Bengals to one three pointer the rest of the quarter while scoring six more points themselves, the last one a ferocious slam by Kugel, to give DP a 4-34 win and the Consolation Championship at the City of Palms Classic.

Udeh led DP with 17 points.

Worland had 10 points for Greensboro Day.

 

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