Johnnie Williams IV scores 30 in Booker's 74-66 win over Riverview in the MLK Classic

SARASOTA

The past two seasons, the Riverview High basketball team has defeated Booker four times.

The Tornadoes are trying to make up for their losses in one season.

Getting 30 points from Johnnie Williams IV, Booker held off a furious Rams fourth-quarter comeback and took a 74-66 victory in the MLK Classic on Monday night at Tornado Alley.

It was Booker’s third straight victory over the Rams this season, also taking the regular season game at Riverview and the championship game of the Suncoast Holiday Classic, also on the Rams’ floor.

“It’s bragging rights,” Williams said. “They’ve beat us for years. So it feels good to actually beat them three times in a row and break that curse that is going on. That was for Martin Luther King right there. That’s a W.”

For Coach Markus Black, it is two straight wins in the MLK Classic, as his Tornadoes defeated Sarasota last season.

“This is tradition,” Black said. “I bumped into so many different players, guys I played with, guys who played before me, coaches and stuff like that. It’s good to see everyone come together on a day like this for a person who stood for so much. To see everyone come together and show that energy and love for the game of basketball, I’m so appreciative of all that.”

Black also appreciated his team hung together down the stretch and made enough free throws to keep Riverview at bay.

After Booker opened a 15-point lead in the third quarter, the Rams (9-8) got to within two with a 5-0 run, including a dunk by Malachi Wideman, midway through the fourth quarter.

“They had me sweating a little bit,” Black said. “We left free throw points on the board. It’s the ebb and flow of the game.”

Booker expanded its lead getting two free throws from Jordan Curtis, one from Williams and a steal and twisting layup from Jaylen Jones.

After Riverview got to within three on layups by Tryus Jackson and Wideman, the Tornadoes closed out the game at the line with a free throw from King Winkfield and two from Jones.

“It was tough,” Rams coach B.J. Ivey said. “We turned the ball over too much. We gave up 10 points in the first half when we turned them over and gave it right back to them. That’s a 20-point swing on stuff we should convert.”

Booker used spurts at the end of the first quarter and midway through the second quarter to enter halftime with a 38-26 lead.

“Foul trouble hurt us in the first half,” Ivey said. “There were some calls that didn’t go our way. Only down 12, we wanted to set some goals, win the first three minutes and we did and we wanted to get it to four or less by the end of the quarter and we did.”

A 10-0 run, capped by five points from Wideman, got the Rams within striking distance, trailing 53-49 entering the final eight minutes.

“We just tried to mix up our defenses and not get set in certain things,” Black said. “If we switch our defenses, show full man-to-man, some zone press, fall back into a half-court man-to-man, just a bunch of different looks.”

Curtis chipped in with 21 for the Tornadoes, who won for the third time in three games at home after going 12-2 on the road.

“I’ve come to the realization playing the schedule we played, on the road, set up that way, we just looked like a team that needed to get back home,” Black said. “Our slow starts was a tribute to being on the road so much, kinda losing touch what it feels like playing at home.”

Wideman (22), Tyrus Jackson (14) and Ben Bloom (10) reached double figures in scoring for the Rams, who have lost six straight.

“If we execute a little bit better down the stretch, the outcome could have been a little bit different,” Ivey said.