The Chiefs defeat Robinson with 4.6 seconds left in the City of Tampa tournament. Blake, Plant and Jefferson also win.
By ANTHONY GAGLIANO
Published December 20, 2003
TAMPA - The ball rolled gingerly around the rim, giving Robinson a little bit of life but eventually sinking the Knights' hopes.
James Devlin's driving layup with 4.6 seconds left capped Chamberlain's comeback from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit Friday as the Chiefs started their defense of the City of Tampa tournament with a 66-64 victory.
Senior Fabian McKnight was trapped in the corner as Devlin, a sophomore who scored 13, broke down the middle of the lane and put the ball up around Robinson's 6-foot-6 center Arnoldo Abreu for the winner.
McKnight gave the Chiefs their first lead since early in the first quarter when he tipped in Carl Slaughter's miss off Rodney Lee's steal. Lee had a team-high 23 points. Robinson's Abreu had 11 of his 23 in the first quarter and Royal topped all scorers with 28. But the duo went 5-of-16 at the free-throw line.
The Chiefs face Blake on Monday. Jeremy Black led the Yellow Jackets past Tampa Catholic; the 6-6 center had at least five inches on every Crusader as he piled up 23 points and 25 rebounds in a 69-50 romp.
On the other half of the bracket, Plant's aggressive man-to-man defense paid dividends in the final two minutes as the Panthers held on to defeat Hillsborough 59-52. The Terriers had the size edge but were unable to use that advantage.
Jonathan Archerd stole the ball and hit two free throws - he sank 10 of 12 - to build Plant's lead to eight points with 1:53 left. Hillsborough had 12 turnovers all game, but when it counted most it followed Archerd's steal with two more miscues. Archerd had 14 and Ben Mathews, who was 5-of-7 at the free-throw line, finished with 15. Kristian Cooper had 17 points for Hillsborough, and Tyrone Evans added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Host Tampa Prep overcame 20 first-half turnovers to have a shot at the end after Keil Moore stole the ball with 56 seconds as Jefferson tried to run out the clock. But the Terrapins couldn't connect, and Alex Arias finished a fast break off Antonio Martin's rebound to put the Dragons back up by two scores en route to a 55-51 victory.
