ROSWELL, GA – The 2014 edition of the Hoops in Overdrive/Ken Littlefield Memorial Classic basketball showcase was loaded with players looking to make an impression. Players stepped up and carried their teams to victories, while the matchups left basketball fans hungry for more action at Centennial High School on Monday.

DOUBLE OVERTIME THRILLER

Westlake High School has pretty much handled all opponents on its schedule, for the most part. The Lions have forced their will on teams with their depth, pressure and team play. However, the No. 4 team on the Hoopseen.com Power Poll had its eyes opened and pushed up against the wall by Walton on Monday.

The Lions squandered a comfortable lead with 1:20 to play in regulation and needed every point in double overtime before beating the Raiders 83-76.

Westlake (19-1) had seniors Raymond Saunders and Tyler Williams to thank. The duo has carried the Lions all season. This game was not different.

Williams was relentless at getting to the basket and was critical in the second overtime. The unsigned guard five of his 27 points in the frame before fouling out.

Saunders closed out the scoring. The unsigned point guard went for a game-high 28 points and 12 assists. Dominic Josephs finished with eight points.

The main reason for the comeback was the Lions inability to handle Walton’s pressure.

“Our guys are still to become a better team,” Westlake coach Darron Rogers said. “I was surprised we didn’t handle the pressure well. (Walton) fought hard. They gave us a taste of our own medicine.”

The Raiders (15-3) applied the pressure late in the fourth quarter. Walton was trailing by nine-points with 1:20 to play. Its defense forced the Lions into careless mistakes, which led to easy baskets. Unsigned senior Elijah Weems attacked the basket and finished on just about every possession to finish with a team-high 27 points. Juanye helped Walton tie the game at 70 with a deep three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

This is when things dried up for the Raiders. The offense struggled with zero points in the first ovetime and when Weems fouled out in the second. Walton could not get into its offensive flow.

“In a crucial time of the game we couldn’t get a rebound,” Raiders coach Joe Goydish said. “We didn’t get that key rebound. The boys played their hearts out though.”

Nick Wells finished with 19 for Walton. Jay Bowyer added 11. Colon chipped in with nine.

DEFENSE SWARMS IN LATE

South Atlanta High’s defense is effective when it has players running around all over the place. The Hornets swarmed at just the right time to beat Tri-Cities 77-76, along with some timely shooting and a last second play.

With only seconds on the clock, South Atlanta (13-4) drew up a play set for Costa Anderson. However, the Bulldogs keyed in on the unsigned senior leaving Tyler Thornton free near the basket. The freshman center’s bucket gave the Hornets their final lead of the day. The Bulldogs heaved up a shot at the buzzer, which fell short of the rim.

South Atlanta found itself in this situation when Anderson got going in the second half. He found his grove just in time. Anderson raced down the floor a few times and nailed back-to-back three-pointers contributing to the Hornets comeback. He finished with a team-high 18 points. Derrick Byrd orchestrated those scoring opportunities and many others finishing with 10 assists. Thornton chipped in with 11.

“We were running the play for Costa but we knew they would switch,” South Atlanta coach Michael Reddick said of the winning play. “Costa and Derrick are one of the best guard combo in the state and region. When Costa gets rolling we’re as confident as we can be.”

Confidence was pouring out of Tri-Cities’ Emmanuel Rainey Jr’s pores. The unsigned senior got it going early opening the game up with two 3-pointers. He proceeded to hit six for the game, mixed in a few mid-range jumpers and free throws for a total of 35 points. Even his shot at the buzzer was only centimeters from going in. Rainey’s jumper was fluid.

He wasn’t the only one putting in work. Shawntrez Davis finished with a double-double (16 points and 14 rebounds). Charles Stokes had 10.

FREE THROW SEAL GAME

Lambert High got off to a slow start. Things were not clicking for the Longhorns until late in the fourth – thanks to Logan Bush.

The unsigned senior took it upon himself to steer the Longhorns toward victory. He went on a run where he was hitting either a tough basket it or clutch free throws. Whenever he wasn’t doing that, Bush was pulling down a key rebound. This was all in an effort to hold off Mount Vernon 54-50.

“Logan Bush came out slow in the first half,” Lambert coach Scott Bracco said. “He took us on his back in the second half though.”

Lambert (15-4) needed all of his efforts to tame the young Mustangs (15-2). Mount Vernons’ Jared Harper led the team with 18 points. The sophomore guard earned all those points as the Longhorns played showed him the entire game. Lambert’s Jake Morris was the primary defender, who also finished with a team-high eight assists.

Eric Sparks added 10 for the Mustangs, while Darius Perry chipped in with seven.

DEFENSE SPURS PAULDING COUNTY

 Coming into the game, Paulding County coach Anthony Cayetano had a sound defensive plan for North Cobb.

His objective was for his Patriots to remain disciplined against a well-coached Warriors team. Paulding County did more than shot its discipline it finished off the Cobb County squad 59-36.

The Patriots (10-10) dominated from the opening tip with junior guard Michael Hemphill leading the charge. He set the tone on both ends of the floor and casually kept all his teammates involved. Hemphill finished with 13 points and seven assists in sparing minutes. Kent State signee Raasean Davis added 9 points, 14 rebounds and five block shots.

“We played a very good defensive game,” Cayetano said. “We wanted to make a conscious effort to stay sound defensively.”

North Cobb (6-14) struggled to get anything going offensively. Micah Woodard finished with nine points. Noah Cotton and Darius Jones added seven points apiece.