TAMPA - When Jefferson coach Henry Washington Jr. prepared his team to play Blake, he warned the players about the tandem of Marcus Gunn and Jeremy Black. Washington only regarded junior guard Charles Trigg as "average" after scouting the Yellow Jackets.
On Tuesday night, Trigg was anything but average.
Trigg scored a game-high 24 as Blake (5-3) held off a late rally for a 70-61 win against Jefferson (3-5) to capture the City of Tampa tournament title at Tampa Prep.
"We wanted to concentrate on stopping (Gunn) and (Black) and (Trigg) really wasn't our main focus," Washington said. "But he played a great game tonight."
Trigg also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals, earning tourney most valuable player.
"We have four guys that average double digits (in scoring) on this team, so we look for the best matchups," Blake coach Winston Davis Sr. said. "And when he got going, it opened things up inside for Black."
Trigg was hot early, hitting a pair of three-pointers on his way to scoring 10 in the first quarter. That opened up the middle for Black and the 6-foot-6 center responded. Black scored 17 and had a game-high 14 rebounds.
"Coach is always preaching to us about establishing an inside-out game," Trigg said. "Once we got (Black) started, it opens things up for everybody else."
Blake led by six at the end of the third and extended its advantage to 10 on a steal and layup from Jon Rollins with 1:45 to play. Jefferson stormed back to cut the lead to 62-59 on a three-pointer from Alex Arias with 1:02 left to play, but Blake went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final minute to seal the victory.
Arias led Jefferson with 20 points and Antonio Martin had 10.
Plant defeated Chamberlain 47-40 to finish third and Hillsborough beat Robinson 65-54 for fifth. Tampa Prep finished in seventh, beating Tampa Catholic 54-30.
Chamberlain's Fabian McKnight, Plant's Jonathan Archerd, Tampa Prep's Alex Schulte, Robinson's Antwon Royal, Tampa Catholic's Michael Blanco and Hillsborough's Tyrone Evans joined Trigg, Black, Gunn, Arias and Martin as all-tourney picks.
