White scorches Leesburg for 19 points in Olympia basketball victory
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Junior Kaiden White led the way on Olympia’s Senior Night, scoring a team-high 19 points Thursday to propel the Titans past Leesburg, 65-55, in boys basketball.
White hit 5-of-7 3-point attempts to lead four Olympia players in double-figure scoring.
“We’re working good together. We have a lot of good guards around Charles, being able to dunk everything we throw at him,” White said.
Olympia's Kevins Charles (21) and Kaiden White (10) pressure Leesburg's Evan James during the second half Thursday at Olympia High. White scored a team-high 19 points to lead Olympia to a 65-55 victory. Charles added 12 points and five rebounds.
Photo by Lynn Ramsey
Cincinnati signee Jizzle James, who came off the bench while the Titans started the other five seniors, added 18 points and five rebounds, while Charles Outlaw added 13 points and four rebounds. Kevins Charles scored 12 points and grabbed five more rebounds. James said the balance gives the team more confidence.
Olympia coach Rob Gordon said this senior class isn’t just the Jizzle James show.
“Last year we were so reliant on (Jizzle) to score the ball,” Gordon said. “This year, we don’t have that situation. We have a lot of guys who can make plays. It’s very much scattered around, different guys, different nights.”
Olympia (23-1, No. 4 in the SBLive Florida Power25) earned a bye in this week’s Class 7A, District 5 tournament at Windermere High – a tournament that includes three other Power25 teams). The Titans play Tuesday’s Cypress Creek-West Orange winner. No. 13 Oak Ridge has the second seed in that tournament and awaits the winner of No. 23 Windermere and 2022 7A finalist Dr. Phillips.
“We have to turn up defensively, get better, leave this game behind us,” White said.
Leesburg (10-11) closes the season Saturday against Lake Wales at the Mosaic Stinger Classic in Bartow. Then the Yellow Jackets – thanks to strength of schedule – enter the Class 5A, District 5 as the top seed over 20-3 Lecanto. Both teams have byes through Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
As Leesburg did Tuesday against Wekiva, the Yellow Jackets jumped out to an early lead. Derek McCray hit two 3-pointers to put the Yellow Jackets up 6-2. McCray scored a game-high 24 points, including 5 of 12 3-point shooting.
However, Leesburg was playing without star freshman Angelo Moton, who missed his second consecutive game with a heart murmur.
Camerin James scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Yellow Jackets. Gordon said that Camerin James was hampered by a wrist injury, which prevented him from shooting 3-pointers.
Olympia's Charles Outlaw, right, gets fouled by Leesburg's Camerin James on a dunk attempt in the second quarter. Outlaw had 13 points - including five dunks - and four rebounds for the Titans in their 65-55 victory. James had 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Photo by Lynn Ramsey
“(Derek)’s been shooting pretty good the whole year, but broke out tonight,” Leesburg coach Sean Campbell said. “Those 6 a.m. practices have been paying off.”
Jizzle James entered 2:35 into the game and announced his arrival with a dunk that put the Titans ahead 8-6 with 2:16 left. Olympia never trailed after that point, as He added a layup and three free throws in the final 1:28 to put the Titans up 13-9 after one quarter. Leesburg committed four turnovers in that final 2:16.
Olympia quickly boosted the lead to 10 points – 21-11 off a Jizzle James jumper. Camerin James and McCray each hit shots to pull Leesburg to within 23-18.
Then Outlaw fired up the crowd with two alley-oop dunks as the Titans led 29-20 at the half.
White scored eight third-quarter points, and Outlaw added two more alley-oop dunks as the Titans ended any hope of a Leesburg comeback. Campbell said the defense stepped forward on Olympia’s dribble penetration, leaving Outlaw open.
“It made the defense attract to (White and Jizzle James) more, so if they were driving, it would be more help on them, and it resulted in lobs,” Outlaw said.
Jizzle James added six more points in the fourth quarter, as the Titans emptied the bench.
The game was a far cry from when the Titans edged Leesburg 72-69 in their season opener on Nov. 23. In that game, Leesburg led by one point with 40 seconds left before turning the ball over, and the Titans hit a 3-pointer and a free throw to clinch the victory.
Jizzle James said the Titans were still working on chemistry after that first game, but that the coaches challenged the Titans to improve.
Outlaw that tougher practices have helped Olympia unite.
“Coach puts us through various drills and simulated games,” Outlaw said. “What our opponent shows us is exactly what we worked on.”
Gordon said the Titans built more toughness since that opener. Olympia will need that toughness entering its district tournament.
“I think we made some more shots,” Gordon said. “The first time, we got good shots; we just didn’t make them. It made the game really close. Tonight we made shots, and that was the big difference.”
Jizzle James said the Titans need to be sharp in the district tournament. “Just finishing games, being tougher on the boards, just the little things,” James said. “Otherwise, I think we’ll be good. Coach will have us ready.”
