Lely Falls in Holiday Tournament Final

For two and a half games, Lely looked like the class of the Holiday Hoops Tournament. But after downing Immokalee on Tuesday, Lehigh on Wednesday, and jumping to a 10-point halftime lead against host Palmetto Ridge on Thursday, things suddenly changed for the Trojans. Palmetto Ridge slowed down the game in the second half, Lely’s outside shooting went cold, and the Bears got to celebrate the tournament championship on their home floor, winning 58-50.

“They slowed the game down,” said Fritz Jacques, Lely head coach. "Sometimes the game slows down and you have to make shots. We missed a lot of open shots. You have to make shots, rebound, play better defense. Then we’ll be on the other side of that. 

Lely (8-6) did all of the above in the first half against Palmetto Ridge (9-0). At the 7:06 mark in the second half the Trojans stretched their lead to 13 at 37-24. Then Palmetto Ridge turned the tables, pulling ahead 44-43 with 16 seconds left in the third quarter. Lely never led again.

The Trojans were without two of their starting five, a starting guard and an outstanding 6’4” power forward. But Jacques refused to use that as an excuse.

"I’m missing my starting five,” Jacques said. "We’re missing two players. They’re on vacation. But there are no excuses. Missing those guys affected us. The team played well in the tournament. We played good team basketball. We just need to learn how to finish.”

Lely returns to action January 6-7 when they host the Don Stewart Shootout.

"We have teams from the East Coast of Florida coming,” Jacques said. This is year eight of the Shootout.