Pallotti boys basketball downs Gilman in Bristow tournament championship

With five seconds remaining against Gilman in the championship game of the Sherm Bristow Holiday Tournament Tuesday night, Pallotti's Amanze Njoku-Ibe missed a dunk.

Njoku-Ibe, however, did a lot of other things right. The 6-foot-8 junior center scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Pallotti to a 62-51 victory over the Greyhounds in Roland Park.

The Panthers (12-2) also received a solid effort from tournament MVP Harlyn Owens, a 6-foot-1 shooting guard who finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He also had 27 points in a semifinal win over Flint Hill Monday.

The performances of Njokuibe and Owens against Gilman left second-year Pallotti coach Dennis Murphy beaming after the game.

“We lost to Severna Park in the first round of the tournament last year by 20 points,” Murphy said. “I think it’s speaks to how our players competed. It’s an important win for our program and players.”

Junior guard Everett Winchester led Gilman with 16 points and made the all-tournament team.

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The Greyhounds were without 6-foot-5 forward Kai Locksley, a Florida State University football recruit who averages 21 points a game.

Locksley is away is playing in Friday’s 2015 Under Armour All-America game in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Greyhounds (5-8) sorely missed him.

Pallotti wasted little time jumping ahead. The Panthers went on an 18-8 run in the first six minutes as junior guard Philip Anderson scored seven of his 14 points during that stretch.

Pallotti pushed its lead to 31-13 with 3:18 left in the second quarter, using an 11-2 run.

The spurt was highlighted by three treys.

The Panthers shot 50 percent (5-for-10) from behind the three-point arch and led 34-20 at halftime.

“They did a great job on capitalizing on those open looks when we are missing them,” said Gilman coach Owen Daly, whose team shot 28 percent (17-for-60) from the field. “We had great energy in the second half, but you get in a hole like we did, it’s hard to get over the hump when you are playing a really good opponent.”

Gilman trailed 37-20 early in the third quarter, when the Greyhounds went on an 11-2 run to force a Pallotti timeout. They took advantage of four Panther turnovers.

Gilman got as close as 45-42 with 6:29 remaining in the fourth quarter when senior guard Matt Egan hit a three-pointer, was fouled and then added a free throw.

Egan scored all 10 of his points — which included three three-pointers — in the second half.

But Pallotti started to pull away in the middle of the final quarter, going on an 11-3 run.

Michael Robinson (9 points), Marquise Brown (3), Greg Purnell (3) and Edwin Cancel (2) accounted for the remainder of the Panthers’ scoring.

All-tournament pick Tyler Foster had 10 points for Gilman. Teammates Brandon Madison (8), Bryce Butler (5) and Deverly Hamilton (2) also made the scoring column.

Pallotti boys basketball downs Gilman in Bristow tournament championship

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