By J. Daniel Pearson
For the News-Gazette

In one of the most exciting finals in the history of the tournament, South Miami defeated the Osceola Kowboys, 63-60, in double overtime to win the Gold Division of the 32^nd annual Great Florida Shootout Saturday at the Kissimmee Civic Center.

 Osceola, 6-7, looked like a team on a mission.  After upsetting previously unbeaten Oviedo in the semifinal (80-63), the Kowboys used a charge to grab a late lead against the Cobras.  When Alain Allard hit both ends of a one and one, the Kowboys had a 50-44 lead with under a minute to go in regulation.

 At that point, tournament MVP Jorge Perez-Laham went to work.  Beating his man off the dribble, Perez-Laham found nothing but net from the top of the key for three points to cut the lead to three with 22 seconds left.

On the ensuing inbound pass, the Cobras trapped the Kowboys in the corner and forced a turnover.  Perez-Laham picked up the loose ball and launched it from the corner for another three to tie the game at 50-50.

 “The first three was a defensive mistake,” Osceola Head Coach Nate Alexander said.  “But the second one was the result of a good play and a little luck on their part.  The guy was covered and he heaved the ball up from the corner and it went it.  That’s the nature of the game.”

Despite having 17 seconds to work with, the Kowboys were unable to get off a good shot and the game went into overtime.

 The teams battled back and forth in the first overtime, with Perez-Laham tying the game with a driving layup with 30 seconds remaining. He was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw and the period came to an end with the teams tied 55-55.

After trading baskets to open the second overtime, South Miami took the lead for good when center Antravious Simmons grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it back in for a bucket.  He was fouled on the play and the subsequent free throw gave the Cobras a 58-55 lead.   Osceola would have a chance to tie the game when Jamie Morris was fouled on a three-point attempt, but he would miss all three free throws.  John Crabit would then put the game away by hitting both ends of a double bonus free throw to up the lead to five.

 Still it was an impressive showing by the Kowboys, who came into the tournament with a 4-6 record.  “It just seems that when we finally got a couple of players back from the football team, we started to come back together as a team,” Alexander said.  “We played some really tough teams in this tournament and stood toe-to-toe with them.  We had a few too many turnovers and missed a few too many shots tonight to win, but I was really proud of our team’s effort.  It was definitely something I think we can build off.”

 “That was some game tonight,” South Miami’s Head Coach Robert Doctor said.  “We’ve been in a ton of close games the last couple of seasons and our kids are beginning to understand the importance of keeping their composure.  This was a tough environment tonight and their crowd did a great job of getting them back into the game.  I am just proud of our team’s resilience and ability to overcome adversity.”

 South Atlanta, 11-1, placed two players on the All-Tournament team.  In addition to MVP Perez-Laham, John Cratit, who scored 16 points in the final, was also named to the team.  Osceola placed Morris (14 points) and Tre Perry (12 points) on the team.  For the tournament, Perez-Laham scored 41 points and added 14 rebounds, 11 assists and 10 steals in winning MVP honors.

 In the Gold Bracket. Celebration used 21 points from Johnny Victor to defeat Colonial High School  (83-70) in the Consolation Semifinals; before finishing in 4^th place with a 60-53 loss to Palm Bay Heritage (Romelo Banks 18, Kordell Johnson 12) in the consolation finals.

In the Silver Bracket, South Atlanta got 17 points from Tournament MVP Naquavious King and Costa Anderson added 16 as the Hornets knocked off St. Michael’s College School of Toronto, 58-48.  King scored 56 points in the three games to lead South Atlanta, 10-1, to the title.

 In other  action, Gateway High School secured a 4^th place finish.  After dropping a tough opener to eventual champion South Atlanta, the Panthers beat St. Petersburg, 66-60, before dropping a 70-59 decision to Chamberlain in the consolation finals.  Giovanni Guzman earned all-tournament honors by dishing out 29 assists in the three games.