Boys hoops: King ekes out championship win

By Dan Genovese
Published January 6, 2008

TAMPA - Defense does win championships.

King learned firsthand the old cliche could be true as the Lions forced late turnovers leading to a 48-45 win over Land O'Lakes in Saturday night's final of the inaugural Alonso Holiday Classic.

King was down by as many as 10 midway through the fourth quarter, but defense kept the Lions in the game as they allowed the Gators only seven fourth-quarter points.

"Our goal is to keep the opposing team under 50 points," said King coach Sam Lanier. "We knew if we could do that, we could stay in the game and have a chance."

King couldn't get a lot going offensively, aside from 6-foot-7 junior center Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who led the Lions offense with three 3-pointers and a game-high 23 points. King's next highest scorer had under 10 points and the Lions couldn't mount more than 11 points in a quarter until the fourth. King repeatedly turned the ball over, but the defense forced Land O'Lakes into key turnovers down the stretch.

"The kids fought really hard tonight defensively," Lanier said. "We were able to rotate well and we have good depth that allowed us to force some late turnovers."

King was down 45-44 with 24 seconds left. The Lions looked to Fitzpatrick in the middle, who drew a triple team. King found an unguarded John Wood, who hit a 3 to put the Lions up by two. The ensuing inbound pass was stolen by King senior guard Dontell Polite, and Noel Fernandez added a free throw to seal it. Fitzpatrick was named MVP.

"I just trusted my teammates tonight and found the open man when I could," Fitzpatrick said." "Our defense kept us in the game and we just kept our composure and never panicked."

[Last modified January 5, 2008, 23:46:40]