DAY 1 RECAP: Levy County Shootout

By: Hayward Miller
Jun 3, 2017
4 min read

Williston High's Levy County Shootout Day One

WILLISTON, FL--- The Williston Red Devils launched day one of their annual fundraiser tournament with three great game on Friday night. R.A.W.E. was able to catch two of them, seeing a bevy of upcoming talent out of the Gainesville area.

The first, Dunnellon Tigers vs. the Buchholz Swamp Shooters. As the summer begins for high school athletes, there is not time for rest. The summer is an opportunity to work hard and improve before the fall comes back around. The Levy County Shootout is an opportunity for some teams to do that.

Kicking the summer off, the Tigers took on Buchholz in the pool play phase of this single elimination tournament. This match between the two teams displayed a lot of defense and for one side, the three-pointer was popular. The Swamp Shooters defeated the Tigers 45-37.

The game was not close at all in the first half as the Swamp Shooters jumped out to an 11-0 lead. Senior Victor “Rick” Smith caught fire behind the arc, shooting back to back three pointers. With the Tigers fallen behind they look for leadership to climb back into the game.

Dunellon's Willie Going answered the call and delivered by driving to the lane, draw the fouls to get to the free-throw line. The styles from the two teams were different. The Tigers style used their athletic ability to get to the basket. The Swamp shooters lived or died by the three and created offense off-the-ball.

Khyron Hilbert was a beast on the board for the Tigers, creating many second opportunities for his team and limiting the other squad on the boards. Tristan Brown for the Tigers made a highlight play, using a crossover and deadly step back to freeze the defender to hit a jumper bringing the score to 11-15. At half, the score was 21-11, Swamp Shooters on top.

Swamp Shooters' Smith, junior guards Cameron Tener and Jacob McCann were too much for the Tigers as their offense propeled them to a big lead. Tener and McCann were lights out from behind the three-point-line.

The hustle and defense of the Tigers brought the game back within 10 in the middle of the second half. Dunnellon's Jacques McCall threw down a monstrous dunk off a steal on a fast break to swing the momentum their way, but in the end, the Swamp Shooters prevailed.

The following game between North Marion and Bell High was a five-overtime thriller.

The matchup came down to one possession while Bell defeated North Marion 66-63 in a game that will go down in the history of this tournament.

In the opening minutes, both teams came out aggressive on defense forcing turnovers. It became apparent who the go-to guys were going to be in the terms of scoring.

The scoring matchup would be Bell’s guard Tyler Trantham versus Jacquez Reeves. Reeves took the front seat when it came to scoring for North Marion. He made a highlight play driving to the lane for the up-and-under layup while absorbing the contact for the score. Then, he followed with a long range bomb, scoring the first 11 points for his team, building the lead, 11-6.

Both teams' offense exploded with scoring, which led to three lead changes in the first half.

North Marion guard Torey Buie displayed leadership as he made hustle plays to keep his team in the game. He was able to hit a jump shot to give his team the lead late in the first half.

Trantham responded at the final buzzer hitting a three to bring the score to 31-32. Reeves had 19 points and Trantham had 13 points at halftime.

In the second half both teams picked up from where they had left in the first half, which was scoring in bunches. North Marion went on a run to pull away from Bell. Trantham and his squad made a 12-0 run to take the lead back late in the second half.

With a few seconds on the clock, Buie displayed why he's a guard that demands attention as he drove to the basket, faded left, and hit a floater over several defenders to send the game in to overtime. It was the first time in history of the Levy County Shootout tournament that two teams went through five overtimes to decide who would come out on top.

After five scoreless periods, Bell’s guard Tony Yonder, who was set up by the assist of Trantham, stepped up and knocked down a three to win over North Marion. Just three games in, and the Shootout is poised for some great action!

Scoring Leaders:

Bell- Tyler Trantham 28 points

North Marion- Jacquez Reeves 25 points

Levy County Shootout Saturday, June 3 Schedule:

Williston vs. Dunnellon 9:00 am

Crystal River vs. Columbia 10:00 am

Dixie County vs. Buchholz 11:00 am

North Marion vs. Crystal River 12:00 pm

Bell vs. Columbia 1:00 pm

Dunnellon vs. Dixie County 2:00 pm

Williston vs. Buchholz 3:00pm

Columbia vs. North Marion 4:00pm