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County's best show off one last time on court

LARGO -- Largo's Billy McDade finished off alley-oops, Gibbs' DeAngelo Woodie shimmied through dumbstruck defenders and Lakewood's Kevin Dorsey displayed almost every move ever to grace the hardwoods Friday night in the Pinellas County All-Star Classic.

But the finish was even more exciting.

With the North team holding a 111-110 lead with under a minute remaining, South defender Robert Martin of Dixie Hollins fouled McDade, who sank both free throws, giving the South one last shot to tie.

On the inbounds, Dorsey drove across midcourt and called a quick timeout. With 1.1 seconds remaining, South coach Phil Price of Largo inserted the only player on either team who didn't play organized basketball his sophomore and junior years -- Dixie Hollins' Hector Melendez.

"I think they all thought the ball was going to go to me," Melendez said. "That was the plan, at least."

But when the ball was inbounded, it didn't go to Melendez and the South lost 113-110 as a desperation 3-pointer fell short.

Although his team lost, Melendez, who appropriately wore No. 3, went home a winner.

"If someone had said that I'd be playing in this game before the season started, I would have called them crazy," Melendez said.

After playing his freshman year, Melendez broke his leg and missed two seasons. When he showed up for tryouts his senior year, Rebels coach Tom Topping took a gamble on him because he liked his 3-point shooting ability.

During halftime of the county-wide showcase, Melendez stunned the audience, outshooting crowd favorite Dorsey 12-9 to win the 3-point competition.

"I figured I had a good chance to win," he said. "I thought it would come down to me and Dorsey and when he hit only nine, I thought I could beat that."

"I've had so much fun this year and being a part of this was just as great as it could get."

Boca Ciega's Willie Brooks led all scorers with 29 points, was named the South MVP and won the dunk competition. McDade won the North MVP award after scoring a team-high 23 points.

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