Gibbs High slips past Palmetto High in boys hoops, 68-63

Palmetto couldn't muster up enough late offense Saturday and fell to visiting Gibbs, 68-63, in the final game of the Turkey Classic.

Following a Jason Spicer put-back, Palmetto (2-2) trailed 64-60 with 1:30 left in the game, but Kyle Edwards wasn't able to covert the layup.

Tre Clark connected on a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 66-63, but after Gibbs two missed free throws it was able to corral the offensive board and D.J. Johnson iced the game.

Clark lead the Tigers with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Kyle Edwards chipped in seven points and six rebounds.

"The guys played hard tonight, we just weren't able to get stops when we needed it," Palmetto head coach Reggie Bellamy said.

The Seminoles turned the ball over 17 times and missed eleven free throws with a few coming in the closing moments.

"It's something we have to fix moving forward," Bellamy added. "We've only got four games under our belt. Those are easy adjustments we can make."

David Pierce scored 13 of his game-high 18 in the second quarter for the Gladiators (5-0), who used a 12-2 run to take a 37-25 halftime lead.

"We came out a little sluggish in the first quarter so I decided to go with a small lineup," Gibbs head coach Larry Murphy said. "We went to the 2-2-1 full-court press and Pierce got it going."

Marquez Walls lead Gibbs with 25 points and six assists, followed by Johnson's 14 points and four assists.

This story was originally published November 29, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Gibbs High slips past Palmetto High in boys hoops, 68-63 ."