Bethune-Cookman forced the Knights into 18 turnovers and looked a bit more convincing in the post until UCF tightened up and put the game away down the stretch to come out on top, 63-50.

“We were starting to feel like the game might slip and we were in danger of losing,” said junior forward A.J. Tyler. “That’s when we picked it up.”

Keith Clanton (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

Freshman forward Keith Clanton extended the lead for UCF (7-2) to 51-47 when he received a pass down low, took a quick bounce to shake off a defender, and laid in a shot off the glass with 3:08 to play. He would then drive to the bucket for another score before blocking a shot and stealing a pass in the paint over the final two minutes for the Knights.

“He came up big for us at the end with a couple blocks there when we needed to have some critical stops,” said UCF Coach Kirk Speraw of the freshman.

It was Clanton’s first career start, and it started out as a relatively quiet one in part because the Knights as a whole appeared to be playing down to their competition. It wasn’t until late in the game that Clanton showed he was comfortable attacking both on the dribble and defense end.

In the first half Clanton made a free throw and two shots from the field for five points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two turnovers. He would finish the night 4-for-4 for nine points, five rebound and four blocked shots in all.

“He has a good sense and a good feel for the game,” Speraw said.

Getting UCF off and running in the first half was Tyler, a transfer from Clemson who Speraw says has added some stability in the post and has become much more consistent of late. He led all scorers with 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting and had six rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of work.

Tyler started the game with a quick pass to Isaac Sosa that led to a score then had two quick baskets of his own, one of which while floating along the baseline off an assist from Clanton near the corner of the court.

But as a team, UCF went long stretches without scoring from the field while Bethune-Cookman seemingly did so at will. That was until the final five minutes of the game when the Knights tightened up defensively to allow just three points the rest of the way.

“We need to get to a point where as a team we do that from the very first minute – all 40 minutes,” said Tyler of the team’s defensive effort. “That’s where we need to get to.”

There’s not a whole lot of time to make that happen though, as the Knights go on the road to take on South Florida (7-1) on Wednesday and No. 14 Connecticut (6-2) on Sunday, Dec. 20. They will then host the UCF Holiday Classic with Liberty (5-6), Buffalo (5-3) and Jacksonville (0-5) coming to town Dec. 29-30.

The Knights start the New Year on the road at No. 25 Ole Miss (8-1) on Jan. 5 before the Conference USA slate gets underway against Rice at UCF Arena on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 5 p.m.

With the win over Bethune-Cookman, UCF stays unbeaten at home (5-0) and puts Speraw just four wins away from become the winningest head coach in program history.

“We stepped up and made it difficult on them to score coming down the stretch and that’s what you need,” said Speraw. “You need to dig down a little deeper no matter what had happened earlier in the game and you’ve got to fight, scratch and claw, and our guys were able to do that.”

Also making contributions for the Knights in the win were A.J. Rompza with 12 points, five steals and three assists; P.J. Gaynor with 10 points, nine rebounds, two blocks; and Sosa with 13 points off three three-pointers and 4-for-9 shooting.

Among the tournament standouts since its inception in 1976 have been Daytona Beach Mainland’s George McCloud, Mike Polite and Vince Carter, Bishop Moore’s Owen Busch, Tony Atkins of Jones, Damien Wilkens of Dr. Phillips, Darius Washington from Edgewater and Nick Calathes of Lake Howell, to name a few.

Austin Rivers (Photo by Jim Redman)

Add Austin Rivers of Winter Park to that list. Just be sure not to leave out his teammates in the process.

The Wildcats won the Tip-Off Classic for only the third time behind 20 points and five rebounds from the nationally sought after junior. Winter Park was convincing in its 59-32 win over Winter Springs.

After entering the halftime break up 22-18, the Wildcats raced past the Bears in the third quarter to put the game out of reach early in the second half. Rivers and senior Robert Lovaglio led the charge by combining for 11 points during the team’s 17-3 run in the period.

“In the first half they got a lot of second chance opportunities because they do such a great job at getting the offensive rebound,” said Winter Park Coach David Bailey. “In the third quarter we did a nice job at keeping them out of the lane and did a great job of boxing them out.”

And they turned those defensive efforts into buckets on the other end of the floor.

Lovaglio capitalized on being given the open look by finishing with 13 points and six rebounds in the championship game. He was among several other Winter Park players that came up big in the win. Junior Brett Comer scored six points and dished out four assists while senior Adam Jones recorded a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.

“In the second half we just wanted to come out and focus mainly on defense because we knew our defense would help dictate our offense,” said Jones afterwards. “This is the best defense we’ve played so far this year.”

After watching his team score just once from the field in the third quarter, Winter Springs Coach Travis Jones could only agree.

“Their defense is deceptively good,” he said of the Wildcats. “They really don’t let you get into your offense very well. We struggled with that.”

Winter Springs got 15 points from Brian Holmes and eight points from Luis Jacabo.

The tournament loss marked the third-straight in the title game for the Bears. They finished as runners-up to Winter Park in 2007 (led by Kyle McClanahan) and Orlando Christian Prep in 2008 (led by Tyshawn Patterson). Both losses came by one point each.

Winter Park escaped a tough challenge by Oak Ridge in the semifinals one night earlier to advance to the Tip-Off Classic finals for the eighth time.

“It’s a testament to the young guys, to how hard they work and how much they value winning and representing their school,” said Bailey.

The Wildcats are courting a team of seven seniors and five juniors who were dismantled in the state semifinals last season by Olympia. They opened the new season with a close loss to East Ridge.

Winning the Rotary Tip-Off Classic, at home in such a dominant fashion, should help set the tone from here on out.

“We had to go in hard because everybody knows Winter Springs is our rival,” said Rivers. “Going in we knew if we didn’t play hard we were going to lose and that was our mindset going into the night.”

– More Rotary Tip-Off Classic –

Zack McCann at Orlando Sentinel

Finals recap at Orlando Sentinel

Photos at Orlando Sentinel

Kevin Fritz history lesson at Central Florida Lifestyle

The Panthers cruised behind an all-around effort by Shane Larkin and a persistent defense that helped hold Alabama-recruit Charles Henderson, Jr. to a quiet 26 points and six rebounds.

Shane Larkin (Photo by Windermere Photography at cdsilveira.smugmug.com)

Larkin hardly looked fazed by a lingering injury to his shooting hand as he shot, attacked and passed his way to 31-points (12-of-20), nine steals, five assists and two blocked shots in the win.

He opened the game with a three-pointer from atop the arc then returned down court on the next possession to drain another from long distance while straddling the baseline.

“When he makes his first couple of shots we really feel like we’re getting in a rhythm,” said Dr. Phillips Coach Anthony Long.

And it never subsided. Larkin defied defenders all game by slashing his way through the lane for buckets one moment then joining teammates for the gritty work expected of them the next.

The Panthers used the inexperience of Coral Reef, who graduated nine contributors to college programs from last year’s title team, to take advantage early and often.

“We wanted to really pressure their guards,” said Long. “We knew Hankerson was going to give us fits but we thought if we could really pressure their guards that we could turn them over some.”

Coral Reef turned the ball over 35 times (seven from Hankerson), which Dr. Phillips turned into 51 points on the other end.

Hankerson’s 23-point outburst in the first half helped get the Barracudas to within eight, 40-32, at the break. But Coral Reef could only muster 13 points in the second half.

The hounding on defense by Dr. Phillips was done by the likes of Pat Ryan (12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, seven assists and five steals) and Chris Thomas (12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, seven rebounds and four blocks), among several others. Keenan Green finished with six rebounds and three steals.

“Not to take nothing away from them because they played well, but we just did it to ourselves,” said Coral Reef Coach Gaston Rodriguez. “We played like the young team that we are.”

And that clearly frustrated Hankerson, who early in the opening quarter routinely attempted to take the game over by himself after Dr. Philips jumped out to a 13-2 advantage. But ultimately, the lanes closed around him in the second half, as he was held to just three points in the final two quarters.

Last season Coral Reef defeated Olympia in the state title game thanks to a 27-point, nine rebound outing from Hankerson. Although Dr. Phillips defeated Olympia in the district tournament, the Panthers fell to the Titans in the regional finals and could only watch the final game from afar.

(note – a condensed version of this story ran on Page 2 of the Nov. 29, 2009 Orlando Sentinel sports section)

– More Dr. Phillips Basketball –

– Team page at DPHoops

– Team page at Panther Zone

– More Hoops Mountain standouts –

In other games, Evans handled Ocala Trinity Catholic, 66-37, as Drekalo Clayton scored 15 points, pulled down eight rebounds and blocked three shots. Also coming up big was Maurice Turner with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Mike Paramore and Travius Johnson each had three assists to help the Trojans post 50 points from inside the paint.

West Orange got 10 points and four assists from DeAndre Carter in a 60-50 victory against Miami Dr. Krop while Jaylon Bell added 12 points on 4-of-9 shots from beyond arc for the Warriors. Darius Johnson led the team with six rebounds and Dominic Pierre-Lois had five points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists as West Orange got 28 points in all from off the bench.

Orlando Christian Prep led by a 30-6 score at halftime against Plantation American Heritage before cruising to a 58-32 win. Jordan Montgomery scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbed four rebounds while Adonis Burbage contributed 10 points in the win. Orlando Parker had nine rebounds, six points and three assists and two blocks as OCP turned 28 turnovers into 45 points.