Boys basketball: Palm Beach Lakes falls in D-Hop final

Wednesday, December 30, 2009
by Paul Ivice

Palm Beach Lakes couldn't hold a late lead and fell to Pompano Beach-Ely in the D-Hop Classic championship game Wednesday night.

The Rams (3-3) — playing in front of a capacity crowd of 2,000 on their home court — trailed 25-13 in the second quarter after senior guard Chris Minor left the game with a sprained ankle. Sparked by twin junior guards Markell and Terell Tillman, who forced the Tigers into several turnovers, the Rams battled back to trail by only one point at halftime.

Behind freshman Maxwell Caines' sharp shooting, the Rams opened a six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but the lead slipped away after senior Mark Moore fouled out with 3:54 to play.

Caines made two free throws with 1:35 remaining for a one-point Atlantic lead, but Derek Walker tipped in a rebound to put Ely back on top 59-58.

"I was pleased with the way Maxwell (Caines) stepped in, but not having Chris (Minor) on the floor throws your offensive timing off," Lakes coach Lorenzo Hands said.

The Rams had three more possessions, but were unable to score and had to foul to stop the clock. Ely made six of its final nine free throws to seal the win.

Javarious Williams led the Rams with 15 points and Moore added 12.

Johnathan Randolph scored 28 for Ely, which is 15-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 5A.

"We really had to dig deep," Ely coach Melvin Randall said.

Glades Central 63, Hialeah-Miami Lakes 28: Jamie Wilson scored 11 of his game-high 14 points in the first quarter as the Raiders (3-4) opened a 26-5 lead and routed the Trojans in the third-place game. The Trojans were playing without 6-9 center Adrian Diaz, who broke his foot in Tuesday's loss to Palm Beach Lakes.

Atlantic 67, Sunrise Piper 64: Emmanuel Tiluscar scored 33 points to help the Eagles (5-5) get past the Bengals (6-3) in the fifth-place game. Richardson Myrthil contributed 11 points for Atlantic.