We made our way up Florida’s Turnpike to The Villages as the school hosted the Iverson Classic Signature Series this weekend. Friday and Saturday were full of games with talented teams as well as individual standouts. Here is a look at what we saw Friday evening.
HIALEAH MATER LAKES vs. CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY
The reputation of Camden is well-known. Mater Lakes is a young team but plays an exciting style. We got what we expected as the game was fast-paced from the start. Mater Lakes took an early gut punch but led 13-11 midway thru the first quarter. The threes started to fall for Camden at that point and heading into the second period, Camden led 24-18. In the second quarter, not only did Camden continue to shoot the ball well from the perimeter, its size advantage started taking its toll. Putbacks became a common occurrence for Camden and while the Bears of Mater Lakes did their best to grind through it, Camden was up twelve at the half, 48-36.
The third quarter was a near mirror-image of the first half. Regardless of whether Mater Lakes played a zone or man-to-man defense, Camden had an answer. Mater Lakes was actually shooting the ball pretty well; it was just that Camden was shooting it better and when they missed it seemed more often than not Camden got a put back to score. With one quarter remining, Mater Lakes was down twenty, 73-53. Mater Lakes continued to play hard and attack on offense in the final period. The margin got down into the lower teens and it looked like Mater Lakes might turn it into a game, but time was not on their side. Later in the fourth, Camden hit the century mark and ultimately won 100-81. Both teams shot over 50% from the field but Camden was 15-32 from behind the arc while Mater Lakes was just 10-32. Also, Camden had 25 second chance points compared to Mater Lakes 12.
Camden got a game-high 42 points from Torrey Brooks. Emmanuel Joe-Samuel added 19 points, David Munro tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds while Aiden Gazaway finished with 11 points.
For Mater Lakes, freshman Tai Bell put up 30 points. Sophomore Khanye Moss added 23 points and senior Bertran Walthour finished with 20 points.
HAWTHORNE vs. RIVERVIEW BELL CREEK ACADEMY
Despite the loss of Florida Gators signee C.J. Ingram to Montverde Academy, Hawthorne is still a formidable opponent. Lyrique Sartin of Bell Creek, was a top ten scorer in the state coming into this contest.
Hawthorne got out of the gate quickly and led 11-6 midway thru the first period. At that point, the Bell Creek offense came alive, outscoring Hawthorne 11-2 to take a 17-13 lead into the second quarter. Bell Creek grew its margin to double-digits, 25-15, at the four-minute mark. Now it was Hawthorne’s turn to go on a run. The Yellow Jackets cut the margin to seven, 31-24, by the time the halftime break rolled around.
Hawthorne came out blazing in the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets tied the game at 31-31 with 5:30 left in the period and kept going from there. In all, Hawthorne outscored Bell Creek 22-6 in the third to lead 46-37 with one quarter left to play. In the final period, it seemed like the momentum changed sides at the quarter break. Bell Creek slowly but steadily chipped away at the Hawthorne lead. Bell Creek finally tied the game at 56-56 and had possession with nineteen seconds left. However, they turned the ball over. Hawthorne was unable to get a good look before the final horn and the game headed into overtime.
Hawthorne gained control of the overtime period right away. Bell Creek had expended a lot of energy to catch up in the fourth period. When Sartin fouled out, Bell Creek was unable to manufacture points. Hawthorne gets a big non-Rural Class win by the score of 66-60.
Four Hawthorne players scored in double-figures. Leland Johnson led them with 15 points. Decarion Debose added 14 points. Both Chasion Wilson and Kelvin Baker each contributed 13 points.
Bell Creek was led by Sebastien Lefranc with 19 points. Sartin added 16 points while Armani Morris had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
TALLAHASSEE MACLAY vs. CITY OF HIALEAH EDUCATIONAL ACADEMY
Both teams travelled pretty far to be at the event and no doubt Maclay was glad to get out of the storm that had turned the state capital into a winter wonderland.
Maclay surprised most people by getting out to a 6-1 lead after four minutes had gone by in the first period. COHEA then ripped off ten straight points to lead 11-6, forcing a Maclay timeout with two minutes to play. It didn’t help as hoped and COHEA led 16-8 after one quarter. In the second period, Maclay did a better job of keeping pace with COHEA. While Maclay was not able to put a dent in the deficit, they didn’t let COHEA grow its lead. Heading into the break, it was a nine-point COHEA lead, 30-21.
The third quarter wasn’t very pretty for either team. Many of the shots both teams took were tough and few fell. However, Maclay was able to scrape the deficit down to just six, 43-37, with one period remaining. In that final period, COHEA was able to keep Maclay at arm’s length, never letting them get within more than three possessions. With 3:39 left to play, COHEA led 50-43 and now time was as much of any enemy of Maclay as COHEA. The Bulldogs were able to up their lead at the foul line as Maclay was forced to foul, winning by the score of 62-51.
COHEA was paced by 18 points from Tony Guerrero. Josiah Brooks added 15 points and Bryan Ramires contributed 11 points.
For Maclay, Andrew Lunt led the team with 14 points. Avery Coffin added 12 points and Nash Beshears finished with 11 points.
ORLANDO ACADEMY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA vs. FORT LAUDERDALE WESTMINSTER ACADEMY
We were able to get to this game near the end of the final period. To set the stage, Westminster Academy, playing without top ten national junior Alex Constanza, entered the fourth quarter up 45-36. When we got into the gym, the score was tied at 55-55. With five seconds left, Westminster’s Alex Lloyd was fouled driving to the basket. He knocked down both. ACF quickly pushed the ball up the floor. For whatever reason, no WA player came to double the ball. ACF scored just before the horn to tie the game at 57-57.
ACF struck first in the OT session as Martay Barnes knocked down a three. Brandon Sharpe of Westminster scored inside to close the gap to one. Barnes responded for ACF with another three to push their lead to four, 63-59. Westminster turned the ball over on its next possession and once again Barnes answered with a three and it looked like ACF was in control up 66-59. Dwight Gaines of Westminster answered with a three of his own but Symon Ghai of ACF got loose inside to make the score 68-62 in favor of ACF. Lloyd hit two free throws for Westminster and then WA did some “focused fouling”. They sent a specific player to the line for ACF on the next two possessions. Only one free throw was made. Westminster’s Gaines drew a foul on shooting a three. He made all of them to make the score 69-67 in favor of ACF. ACF turned the ball over on its next play but then blocked a WA shot, so on it went. ACF scored in transition to up its lead to four but Gaines quickly pushed the ball up the floor and hit a three to make it a one-point game, 71-70, with four seconds left. Niko Albino of ACF was quickly fouled. He made one of two to give ACF a 72-70 lead with 3.4 seconds left. After a timeout for Westminster, they got the ball into the hands of Lloyd. He pushed the ball up court and launched a three with under one second to play. It was off but the ref called a foul on ACF. Lloyd, a Florida signee, knocked down all three shots. ACF was unable to get off a decent shot and Westminster won a wild one, 73-72.
Lloyd led Westminster with 39 points. Gaines backed him up with 23 points.
For ACF, Barnes led the way with 36 points while Albino added 12 points.
We did not get to see the West Oaks Academy’s 67-53 win over The Villages. According to the box score, West Oaks led at the break 36-18 and as able to hold on from there.
Willie Burnett led West Oaks with 18 points while The Villages’ Aaron Britt led them with 17 points.