Belmont stakes claim to Reebok title

The 6-foot-2-inch Belmont Shore point guard, who long has been viewed as one of the country’s top prep basketball prospects, already had achieved just about every milestone possible prior to tip-off.

Even so, the future Arizona Wildcat managed to dazzle a crowd of about 700 with one of the strongest performances of his career. If his 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists weren’t enough to convince any skeptic that his skills are top-shelf, his high-arcing, long-range 3-pointer at the end of regulation surely was.

Belmont Shore (Calif.) went on to claim the inaugural Reebok Summer Championships title with a 78-73 overtime victory over Team Breakdown (Fla.) at Foothill High School.

“I’m the type of guy who always wants to take the last shot,” said Jennings, who took the inbounds pass and had 6.6 seconds to bring the ball upcourt for a game-tying buzzer beater. “I have a lot of confidence, and I know you live or die on shots like that. Thank God it went in.”

The basket, combined with Team Breakdown’s foul troubles, gave Jennings’ team the momentum it needed heading into the two-minute overtime period. A subsequent layup by Renaldo Woolridge to begin the extra period gave Belmont Shores its first lead, 71-69.

“Fatigue was a factor,” said Belmont Shore coach Dinos Trigonis, whose team played three games Thursday. “We don’t have much depth because we have some kids that are banged up and hurt. But we stuck in and battled back.”

The first half belonged to Team Breakdown. A 12-0 scoring spurt gave the elite squad from Florida a 23-11 lead midway through the first half. Team Breakdown guard Kenny Boynton scored 17 of his team-high 21 points before the break, and Belmont Shore trailed 38-29 at halftime.

“We were tired in the first half,” Jennings said. “In the second half, I just said, ‘I’m not having this. We’ve come too far to let this get away.’ “

Leonard Washington kept Belmont Shore in the game by scoring 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, and the deficit closed to 65-58 with 2:50 remaining. That set the stage for Jennings, who scored the next seven points to make it 67-65 with 1:18 left.

After free-throw conversions by each team, Jennings grabbed his final rebound with 6.6 seconds left. Team Breakdown used its last timeout, but the tactic did not prevent Jennings from nailing a shot from 24 feet out to tie it at 69.

Trigonis said there was little doubt about the strategy behind the regulation-ending play.

“I’ve seen Brandon play in these types of games,” said Trigonis, whose team finished the tournament at 7-2. “And I’ve seen him hit many, many shots like that.”