ST. PETERSBURG - Lakewood, in the words of coach Dan Wright, "saved its best for last", dominating defensively and rolling over Good Counsel (Md.) 55-46 Tuesday at the Times Bayfront Center to take fifth place at the Hooters Holiday Shootout.
The Spartans (9-1) only trailed once in capping the tournament with a 3-1 record. They held Good Counsel to 24 percent shooting, 13 percent in the first half, and played as well as they had after a disappointing quarterfinal overtime loss Saturday to Manchester (N.H.) Trinity.
"The best team played for fifth place today," Wright said. "I have to give Trinity credit for beating us, but I think you saw the best basketball team in the tournament today."
Good Counsel made only 3-of-23 shots in the first half and allowed a 16-2 run that produced an insurmountable 28-12 deficit. The Falcons trimmed Lakewood's 13-point halftime lead to five points three times in the fourth quarter, but never got any closer and Lakewood's shaky free throw shooting was enough.
The Spartans made just one field goal the final three minutes, but went 7-for-12 from the line.
Mario Telfair, named to the all-tournament team, led the Spartans with 15 points, and Sean Morrison added 12.
James Gist, an all-tournament pick for Good Counsel, had his tournament low of eight, but blocked seven shots.
SOUTH MIAMI 49, GIBBS 48: Gibbs squandered a chance for a strong finish at Hooters, losing despite despite holding South Miami without a field goal in the final 3:00.
Problem was, Gibbs (8-3) couldn't score in that span either. After the Cobras hit a 3-pointer with 3:05 left for a 49-48 lead, neither team scored again.
South Miami was called for a lane violation, negating a made free throw and giving the ball back to Gibbs with 26 seconds left. After letting half that time tick away, Gibbs called a timeout to set up its final play.
But South Miami switched from a zone defense to man-to-man in the middle of the last play, confusing Gibbs and leaving Walter Brady to throw up a desperation 3-point try at the buzzer that missed.
Naason Borden led Gibbs with 12 points and Brady had 10.
TOURNAMENT FINAL: Tournament MVP Chris Lutz hit four 3-pointers and scored 21 points to lead Manchester (N.H.) Trinity to a 71-66 win over Pittsburgh Central Catholic for the title.
Trinity also got 22 points and seven assists from Chad Millard. The Pioneers held a double-digit lead for most of the game until Central Catholic made a run late and got within 65-62. But they got no closer. Ross Watson led the Vikings with 18 points.
Largo wins tournament
VERO BEACH - Fred Marshall had a critical steal, then made the deciding free throw with 1.8 seconds left in overtime Tuesday to give Largo a 59-58 victory over Orlando Timber Creek in the Vero Beach Holiday Hoopla championship.
Timber Creek was playing for the last shot in a tie game when Marshall stole the ball, drove the length of the court and was fouled. Marshall made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, preventing Timber Creek from attempting a shot before time expired.
"They were throwing the same passes over and over," Marshall said. "I just kept my hand out and I knew sooner or later one of the passes would hit my hand."
