Advertisement

District boys basketball: Gibbs 57, Lakewood 53

 
Published Feb. 11, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG — David Pierce had 18 points as Gibbs rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to beat Lakewood 57-53 in the Class 6A, District 11 championship game Friday.

Lakewood (17-6) took a 38-26 lead early in the third quarter off back-to-back dunks from Jalen White but the Gladiators began to fight back with pressure defense and more ball movement on offense. A basket from Tre Gilliam capped off a 10-2 run for the Gladiators as they pulled to within 43-39 at the end of the third period.

Pierce's 3-pointer with 5:24 remaining in the game gave Gibbs (20-6) its first lead at 47-46, and Pierce added a basket on a follow up and two free throws to give the Gladiators a 53-46 lead, their largest of the game.

White hit a 3-pointer late in the fourth but Lakewood still trailed 55-51 with less than two minutes remaining but missed his 3-pointer to get the Spartans within one with less than 20 seconds left. Pierce hit both ends of a double bonus to put the game away.

Lakewood used a 16-0 run to take a 19-8 lead early in the second quarter behind a hot-shooting stretch from Adrian White, who scored 15 points in the first half.

The Spartans took their largest lead of the game, 34-18, into halftime after Mataeo Brinson hit a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer.

Gibbs quickly recovered in the third as Pierce made two 3-pointers and Deonte Brooks added a basket to make the score 34-26.

Brooks and Bailey Peterson had 12 points apiece for Gibbs. Adrian White led Lakewood with 18 points but only had three in the second half. Jalen White had 13 and Tyrese Hurst added 12 for the Spartans.