County teams play well but fall at GFSO

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County teams play well but fall at GFSO

Sports

Wednesday, 29 December 2010 10:30

News-Gazette Photo/Andrew Sullivan

Poinciana’s Sherwood Vinson (1) drives around Hoover, Calif., defender Shaquan Cain Monday at the Great Florida Shootout at the Silver Spurs Arena.

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
Neither Osceola or Poinciana will win the 30th Great Florida Shootout crown, but both local teams put on championship efforts in the opening round Monday when they almost upset out-of-state powers.
The tournament, at the Silver Spurs Arena, concludes today with consolation games starting at 1 p.m. The championship contest begins at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students.
Osceola fell to Forestville, Md. Bishop McNamara High, 68-63, Monday after leading by three in the fourth quarter, 54-51.
Poinciana looked like it might slay a giant, literally, when it was tied after three quarters against Hoover, Calif., and highly-touted 6-9 senior Angelo Chol before losing, 80-67.
Osceola, 7-4, ran 15 straight points at the end of the first half and early in the third quarter to turn a 36-29 deficit into a 44-36 advantage. OHS went up by three, 39-36, at the half on Jedarian Jackson’s (15 points) 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Point guard Michael Sanchez (23) led OHS in scoring and kept OHS in the game in the fourth period, scoring the only Kowboys baskets when the Mustangs went on a 13-4 run in the final four minutes to secure the win.
Antonio Benitez (12) also scored in double figures for OHS.
“I can’t complain. I thought we played well,” Coach Steve Mason said.
The Kowboys coach said his team has been in a position to win every game this season, a schedule that includes five state-ranked opponents.
“What we have to do is figure out how we’re going to push through in the fourth quarter. We’ve led every game, but we aren’t finishing,” he said. “We need to find that guy who is going to help us wrap it up.”
The Mustangs were led by the trio of Marcus Thornton (21), Ibn Muhammed (17) and Callon Dailey (16). Thornton hit five 3-pointers in the first 18 minutes to spark the Mustangs.
“They’re good, they’re ranked in the top eight in the Washington D.C. area; that’s a pretty high level of basketball,” Mason said.
The Kowboys bounced back Tuesday with an impressive 74-59 win over Fort Myers Bishop Verot, erasing an early seven-point deficit.
Osceola led 32-28 at the half and took over in the third quarter by outscoring the Vikings 11-2 to start the second half.
Sanchez had 24, Jackson scored 18, Benitez had 15 and Johnson Decembre added 10 for OHS.
Sanchez said the Kowboys are getting better each game.
“We can be as good as we were last year (district champs). We’re playing hard. Right now, we’re like one step away,” he said.
Mason said it was a good effort.
“You never know how the kids will respond in a game like this, but we did well,” he said.
Osceola played Oviedo Wednesday. The winner plays for the consolation championship today at 4 p.m.
Poinciana, despite not having a player over 6-4, pressured Hoover Monday and caused Chol to pick up his fourth foul with 3:34 to play in the third quarter.
With Chol on the bench, the Eagles, who trailed by 16 points in the first half, scored the last five points of the third period to tie it at 52.
Lex Curry (22), Osanto Marc (19), Stefan Moody (12) and Sherwood Vinson (12) all took turns knocking down big baskets to keep the Eagles close.
When Chol re-entered to start the fourth quarter, the Cardinals ran off eight straight points, mostly on baskets from guards Jonathan Booker (18) and Shaquan Cain (11).
Chol finished with 29 points and nine rebounds. Predictably, the taller Cardinals owned a 38-21 advantage on the boards.
Eagles Coach Jay Lunce said Chol was the difference.
“When he went out, we could match up,” Lunce said. “We played pretty well. It was a good effort. Our big problem was we lost our man too much. We gave up too many points in transition.”
The Eagles are playing without two players due to injury and a family emergency, so Lunce brought up JV player Dillon Jean-Pierre to play against Chol.
“I thought he did a good job,” Lunce said.
The Eagles, 9-3, lost Tuesday against Lexington, S.C. High, 71-65. Poinciana trailed by 12 in the third quarter before closing to three, 68-65, on Moody’s score off a rebound with 25 seconds left, but Lexington knocked down three free throws to seal the win.
“You can’t play two and a half quarters,” Lunce said. “We made too many mental mistakes and poor shot selections.”
Curry had 25, Marc 21 and Moody 17 for Poinciana, who turned it over 15 times.
The Eagles play today at 2:30 p.m. in the consolation round.
Among those watching the Poinciana-Hoover game Monday was former Kansas Jayhawks star Danny Manning, a 6-10 forward who propelled Kansas to the 1988 national championship. Manning is an assistant coach for the Jayhawks. North Carolina Coach Roy Williams was expected to visit the tournament Wednesday to watch Chol, rated among the top 75 prospects in the nation by ESPN.
Oviedo Coach Ed Kershner, who founded the Shootout 29 years ago as a coach at OHS and is a four-time tournament champion, tied late Stuart Martin County Coach Don Wallen as Florida’s all-time wins leader (760) when the Lions beat Bartow, 53-38, Tuesday.
See aroundosceola.com for today’s championship bracket.