By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

After completing their games at the Kingdom of the Sun Tournament in Ocala, Fla., the MCHS varsity boys basketball team returned to Atlanta on Jan. 1 to compete in the Hoops in Overdrive shootout at Centennial High School, where they beat the first-ranked 6A team, Shiloh High School, 81-79 in overtime.
Morgan County beat Dr. Phillips of Orlando 58-54 on the first day of the Kingdom of the Sun Tournament, but the Dogs lost to Louisville Ballard 57-64 in the second round.
“The team was brokenhearted after the second game,” said Coach Charlemagne Gibbons.
The setback did not keep the team down; Morgan County came out on the third day to beat Vanguard, the tournament’s host team, 63-42, but, during the fourth day, Morgan County lost 51-65 playing for fifth place in the tournament against Boone High School of Orlando.
Tookie Brown had the highest average during the tournament for Morgan County with 15.5 points per game.
On Jan 1, the varsity boys played in the Hoops in Overdrive shoot out against Shiloh High School.
By the end of the first half, Morgan had fallen behind 11 points to 26-37, but Morgan County pulled within eight points of Shiloh in the third quarter.
Driving for a comeback, Morgan County tied the score at 70 just before the end of regulation time.
“We were down as much as 18 in the third quarter,” said Gibbons. “And we slowly chipped away and had a big run in the fourth to send it into overtime.”
In the final seconds of overtime with Morgan County behind by one point, Brown shot a long, three-point field goal to put the team two points ahead just before the buzzer rang.
Coach Gibbons wasn’t surprised in the least that the team was able to pull itself out of the hole to win after they found their rhythm.
“They are fighters,” said Gibbons. “That’s the big thing – we’ve got a lot of fight.”

Printed in the January 10, 2013 edition