PUNTA GORDA
The Booker High boys basketball team has gone from the hunter to the hunted.
“They’re going to win the state title,” Charlotte coach Tom Massolio said after the Tornadoes rallied down the stretch to defeat the Tarpons, 64-56, in a non-district game Thursday night at Wally Keller Gymnasium.
“They’re going to be right there in the hunt,” Massolio said. “That’s a damn good basketball team. Really good. They’re athletic. They share the ball. They get after it. It’s a nice team. I like them. They don’t have great size, but they play together and have good chemistry.”
Coming off winning the Suncoast Holiday Classic with three come-from-behind victories capped by a victory over host Riverview in the title game, Booker (11-0) did not play its finest game Thursday. It was outrebounded and turned the ball over more than coach Markus Black would like.
“We’ll take it how we can get it at this point,” Black said. “We’re trying to get these guys to understand that all the stuff they worked for in the summertime, we’re that team that’s getting circled on the schedule. So now our mentality we have to revert back to where we started over the summertime. We have to go back to the hunter’s mentality. I’m trying to get them to bring back that hunter’s mentality and at this point just know how to manage success and pull wins out. It isn’t always going to be pretty, but let’s get a W and keep moving.”
The Tornadoes trailed 55-54 after Ahmad Johnson took a backdoor pass from Kenny Scribner and dunked, one of three second-half jams for the Tarpons.
One backdoor cut deserves another, as Booker’s Jordan Clark sneaked behind the Charlotte defense and converted a feed from Jaylen Jones to give the visitors the lead for good.
It started a 10-0 run for the Tornadoes, their second double-digit spurt of the second half. Johnnie Williams IV made five free throws in the final 55 seconds to ice the win in the entertaining game.
“Oh, yeah. No pressure, it’s going in,” Williams said of his prowess at the free-throw line.
On being the hunted after being the hunter at the beginning of the season, Williams said, “I look at it as a challenge. We’re the best team. We didn’t lose yet. Eventually, somebody will stop us.”
It looked as if Charlotte would be that team.
The Tarpons rebounded from a seven-point deficit in the second quarter to take a 33-31 lead at halftime. Up 41-35, Charlotte permitted Booker to score 13 straight, eight by Clark. Even with the Tornadoes holding a nine-point lead at 52-43 after two free throws by Jordan Curtis 25 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Tarpons managed to come back and regain the lead.
“We can’t do that against really good teams,” Massolio said of giving up two double-digit runs in one half. “We need to take care of the ball, get our looks and our shots and are patient, we can play with anybody.
Curtis (18) and Clark (17) led the way in scoring for Booker. Jones and Williams, who went 7-for-8 from the foul line, each had nine points for the Tornadoes, who made 21-of-25 at the line.
“We just have to stay locked in and stay together,” Williams said. “Sometimes the crowd got in our heads, but we stayed locked in and got the win.”
Charlotte, which went 11-for-19 from the line, got 16 points from Johnson and 15 from Mackengie Simon.
“This team can play with anybody. I know that,” Massolio said. “It’s just a matter of us doing that on a consistent basis. That will come. We’re going to really focus on executing and doing our stuff in the next two days.”
Charlotte is off until Thursday, when it plays host to Cape Coral Ida Baker in a district game.
Booker returns to action Tuesday at Lake Wales in a district game.