BY GENE NARDI
Over Thanksgiving weekend, while many were eating leftovers from their holiday meals, local high school basketball teams competed in the eighth annual Charger Shootout Classic. The tournament drew some of the best teams in the state from Orlando to Miami, 16 in all.
Royal Palm Beach and Wellington high schools competed in the two-day event. The tournament was a shootout style, meaning that teams played a maximum of two games, with no bracketing for a playoff.
Royal Palm Beach played Boyd Anderson on Friday night for the first game and won 70-55, but fell in the second contest on Saturday to Olympia, 63-51. The Wildcats relied on aggressive play from Leonard Thorpe and Jules Jasmin to control the tempo. Cristian Crespo contributed with his accuracy at the net, tallying 13 points against Boyd Anderson.
Wellington played Miami Central in its first game Friday afternoon and defeated the Rockets 76-53, but fell short against Blanche Ely 54-63 on Saturday. Wellington starts its season 1-1, while Royal Palm Beach also carries a 1-1 record into next week.
The Wolverines controlled the momentum of the first game against the Miami Central with Illinois commit Trent Frazier and Sage Chen-Young dominating the tempo and combining for 53 points.
The tournament provides local teams with the opportunity to play other teams from outside the area. “It gives us the chance to play some of the best teams, which makes us better,” Wellington head coach Matt Colin said.
Royal Palm Beach’s Crespo had 13 points and two 3-point goals against Boyd Anderson, and Rodson Entienne added 12 points. Against Olympia, Crespo had 11 points and three 3-pointers. Jasmin had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Samuels scored 17 points.
For Wellington, against Miami Central, Frazier put up 29 points and three 3-point goals, while Chen-Young had 24 points and two 3-point goals. Against Blanche Ely, Frazier put up 22 points, Chen-Young had 13 points, and Bryan Williams had six points and two 3-point goals.
Royal Palm Beach had games this week against Palm Beach Central and William T. Dwyer, while Wellington played Village Academy, but results were not available by press time.
ABOVE: Wellington’s Trent Frazier tries to get by a Miami Central defender.
