January 4
David vs. Goliath? Hardly!

Rarely does a 6A team venture out to play a 1A team. Rarer still is when it is the top 6A team in the state taking on the top 1A team in the state. And it is practically unheard of for that game to take place at the 1A school’s gym. Well that is just what happened tonight as Class 6A Orlando Olympia ventured across town to play Class 1A Orlando Christian Prep at their place.

Orlando Christian Prep scored the first points of the contest when sophomore guard Kaleb Clyburn scored on a drive to the basket. Olympia suffered a blocked shot and two turnovers on their first three possessions but junior forward Jamel Marshall knocked down a three from the top of the key to put the Titans on the board. Olympia’s junior point guard Martell Buie came back with a transition basket after an Orlando Christian Prep miss to put Olympia up 5-2 with 5:30 left in the quarter. The Warriors answered right back after sophomore forward Adam Jones was fouled, who made one of two free throws to make it 5-3 Olympia. However, that was the last point that Orlando Christian Prep would score in the quarter as Olympia forced turnovers and limited the Warriors to one shot on the offensive end. Junior guard Dexter Fields got in on the action with a transition basket and a mid-range jumper while Buie added another three points. After one quarter, Olympia led 14-3 and it looked like the big boys were ready for a route.

The main problem for Orlando Christian Prep was that junior forward Keith Clanton was completely passive. That was the focus of the Orlando Christian Prep huddle between quarter and Clanton came out ready to play. Clanton opened the quarter on a drive to the basket, assisted on a bucket, and knocked down a three and Orlando Christian Prep was back in it at 14-10 with 4:25 left to go before half-time. Dexter Fields finally stopped the bleeding with a 3 pointer but Jones of Orlando Christian Prep caught a pass from Clanton and scored inside on the next possession. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter and it looked like Olympia would go into the locker room with a six point lead after Jamel Marshall hit a mid-range jumper, but Clyburn of Orlando Christian Prep came down court and knocked in a three to put the half-time score 23-20 in favor of Olympia. Credit to Orlando Christian Prep for settling down down and taking better care of the basketball, which resulted in better shots. Olympia had fewer opportunities in the 2nd quarter as they took their time attacking the Orlando Christian Prep zone but were largely unsuccessful.

Olympia junior forward William Green opened the scoring in the third quarter with a transition basket off of a steal. Meanwhile, Orlando Christian Prep struggled to start the quarter with two turnovers on their first three possessions. Orlando Christian Prep finally got on the board but Olympia went on a five point run as Marshall hit one of two free throws and Green slammed one home in transition and scored inside. Orlando Christian Prep junior guard Tyshawn Patterson scored in transition after Olympia failed to get back on defense, but Olympia turned right around and scored again on a Martell Buie free throw. to put Olympia’s lead at 31-24 with 3:30 to go in the third. However, from there the Warriors outscored the Titans 12-0 as Patterson hit two free throws, Clanton scored in transition and put back two missed shots, and Clyburn scored in transition off of a steal. Olympia got a little too careless with the basketball and a couple of poor calls took some points away from the Titans. Still it was anybody’s game at the end of the third, but now it was Orlando Christian Prep with the lead, 36-31.

Buie hit a three to open the fourth for Olympia, but turnovers (3 in the first two minutes) and foul problems (Orlando Christian Prep was in the bonus at the five minute mark) put the Titans in a hole. A 9-0 Warrior run over the following three minutes almost put the game out of reach at 45-34 with four minutes remaining. The key was allowing Clanton to break the press and beat defenders who aren’t used to guarding players out on the perimeter. Olympia began to press offensively and ended up going on another long scoreless stretch, this one going from the four minute mark to the 2: 30 mark. However, Olympia didn’t quit and they were able to put on a 8-4 run to cut the margin to 49-44 with just under two minutes to go. However, foul trouble and some poor defense that allowed Orlando Christian Prep to score in transition put the lead back to 58-49 with only 15 seconds left. From there it got wild, as Olympia was able to score five points in the next ten seconds, highlighted by a Buie three pointer to make it 58-54. But, Orlando Christian Prep was able to hang and win by that same score.

The difference in the game was Keith Clanton being more aggressive in the final three quarters and really stepping up to take on the challenge. He ended up with 17 points for Orlando Christian Prep, followed by Adam Jones and Caleb Clyburn, both with 12 points. For Olympia, Dexter Fields led the way with 15 points, while Martell Buie added 14 and Jamel Marshall had 11.