For the second straight year the Georgia Stars left Augusta, Georgia with the Elite Youth Invitational trophy. This year's championship run at Paine College wasn't an easy one.

It took an overtime period against the Alabama Challenge to bring home the hardware. Paced by the scoring punch of Justin Coleman and Tadric Jackson, the Stars came alive in the extra five minutes and closed out strong at the EYI.

The Georgia Stars won out 71-64.

That final score doesn't really tell the story of some of the best Southern shooting guards going at it. The Alabama Challenge leaned heavily on Devin Booker (Moss Point, MS) while the Stars put the ball in the hands of Jackson (Tift County) and Coleman (Wenonah, AL).

Booker found his scoring zone early, knocking down impressive jumpers with defenders draped on him. He perimeter game was so good, his shot was the talk of the gym amongst the college coaches. Booker drilled three three-pointers in a matter of six minutes. He found the zone and the Challenge went to him often.

Then the second half came and the shots didn't drop quite like they in the first half for Booker. Defensively, Jackson won the shooting guard battle against Booker.

Alongside Coleman, the Georgia Stars backcourt was outstanding in overtime.

"Everybody on this team has heart," Coleman said. "We played a lot of minutes and we were tired so we had to suck it up and just play."

Bringing home the championship wasn't an easy one, says Isaiah Wilkins. The team only had four of it's original roster from April. That was part of the motivation for the EYI.

"We had a lot of players leave the team so we wanted to go out and get one for coach (William) Steele and for each other," Wilkins said. "This is the first one down and now have a few more to go."

"We have a chip on our shoulder now. We have to go out and win another event now," Coleman said.

Next up is the Best of the South. Can the program continue the trend of ending events on Sunday with a trophy lofted high above their heads? We'll see. The action starts on Thursday.