Prep Sports
Olympia Repeats As Tampa Hoops Classic Champ
NICK WILLIAMS
Published: December 31, 2008
TAMPA - The Orlando Olympia boys basketball team sure has a knack for drama.Published: December 31, 2008
On Tuesday, in the second annual McDonald's Tampa Hoops Classic, Olympia senior guard Martell Buie hit a layup with 1.7 seconds remaining in double overtime to give the Titans a 73-71 victory over Chicago North Lawndale Charter to win the championship of the 16-team tournament.
Last year, Olympia's Jamel Marshall scored with 3.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Class 6A powerhouse a 99-97 win against Humble (Texas) Christian Life to win the inaugural McDonald's tournament.
On the winning play, Buie dribbled past a defender at the top of the key and drove to the basket for a right-handed layup. A full-court heave by Charter fell into the hands of Olympia as time expired.
"Coach told me that if I could beat my man, take it to the hole, and that's what I did," said Buie, who was named the tournament MVP in 2007.
In regulation, Charter's Zilijan Jones went coast-to-coast to hit a layup as time expired to make it 61-61 and send the game to overtime.
With 17 seconds left in the first overtime, Marshall scored to tie the game at 67 and neither team could get off a shot in the final seconds.
Tournament MVP Dexter Fields led the Titans (10-2) with 20 points, while Buie finished with 18 points, eight assists and six steals.
Senior forward Jonathan Mills led Charter (8-2) with 21 points and 26 rebounds.
Berkeley Prep, Clearwater, King and Sickles finished 2-2 in the national tournament. Sickles (11-4) defeated Tennessee Oak Ridge, 43-32, in the 11th-place final; King (4-6) defeated St. Mary's Ryken from Maryland, 66-47 to win the challenge championship. Clearwater (11-2) and Berkeley (8-4) lost on the final day.
In his team's 71-62 loss to Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer, Berkeley Prep senior guard Johnathan Gray scored 24 points to surpass the 1,000-point career mark.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Okaro White, Clearwater; Ramon Galloway, Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer; Greg Gantt, Gainesville; Anthony Nwadigo, Gainesville; Zilijan Jones, Chicago North Lawndale Charter; Jonathan Mills, Chicago North Lawndale Charter; Shaun Noriega, North Port; John Henson, Sickles; Martell Buie, Olympia; Dexter Fields, Olympia; Marquis Horne, Cincinnati Princeton; Jordan Sibert, Cincinnati Princeton; Keith Spellman, Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson; Luis Jacobo, Winter Springs.
Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 259-7851.