From Friday, Dec. 27 through Monday, Dec. 30, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission held its annual Holiday Basketball Classic of the Palm Beaches invitational tournament in Palm Beach Gardens.
Teams gathered for the high-level competition included Wellington High School, Westminster Academy, Mater Lakes, the Sagemont School and Inlet Grove from Florida; Windsor Forrest from Georgia; Davidson Day School from North Carolina; Woodward Career Technical from Ohio; and Jeffersontown from Kentucky.
The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has established a reputation for attracting top-level teams to Palm Beach County to compete with some of the best teams in the country, and the Wolverines placed third in the tournament.
“It was one of the best tournaments in the State of Florida,” Wellington head coach Matt Colin explained. “Every game was challenging. No cupcakes. Every team had college prospects. It’s games like this that will make us better and ready for league play in January.”
The Wolverines (8-2) defeated Mater Lakes 72-66 to take the third-place award. Freshman Marvel Allen put up 25 points in the contest with 6 rebounds. Senior Jagger Ruiz is credited with 16 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Deonte Perez totaled 12 points and 4 rebounds.
Earlier in the tournament, Wellington beat Woodward Technical 84-68. Allen had 22 points, Perez tallied 18 points and Ruiz had 14 points. In the Wolverines’ second game, they fell to Westminster Academy 73-55, but the first game win locked them in to play for third place.
Wellington participated in the Rock Holiday Classic Tournament in Orlando from Jan. 2 through Jan. 4, but results were not available by press time. The Wolverines will resume local play on the road against Palm Beach Lakes High School on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
