Shootout starts Saturday

This just in. If it's Christmas, there must be a bunch of high school basketball going on in the Sunshine state.

Kissimmee’s  Florida  Shoot Out starts with a bang at the Silver Spurs Arena. Can hardly wait.

Read pass the jump for a summary of first-day matchups.

On Saturday, December 26^th, the Great Florida Shoot Out will commence with 8 games being played in the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.  The Shoot Out will bring 16 of the Country’s  premier basketball programs together.

The 10 AM game has Orlando Christian Prep playing Lakeland Kathleen High School.  Orlando Christian Prep will be bringing Josh Castellanos, Adonis Burbage, Orlando Parker and Isaac Cohen.  OCP was last year’s State Champion in their classification.  They return three starters and a promising transfer in Burbage.  Lakeland Kathleen is led by Lazedrick Williams, Christian Baldwin, Terrick Colston and Dominque Gilberry. This team was ranked as high as 6^th in their classification last year and they have 10 lettermen returning.

The 11:30 A. M. game will pit Oak Ridge HS of Orlando against Richwood High School of Monroe, Louisiana.  Oak Ridge is led by Cady Lalanne and a strong supporting cast which includes O’Neil Lubin, Antonio Ansley and Corey Billingslea.  Richwood is led by LaDon Carter,  Marceis Davis, D’Andre Martin, and Ladarrin Williams.  Richwood is coming off a State Championship season with 3 returning starters and 10 returning lettermen.

The 1:00 PM game will have Ft. Myers High School playing Rockledge High School.  These are two Florida schools with Ft. Myers being a 4A school and Rockledge being 3A.   Rockledge was 21-7 last year.  They return 4 starters and have 5 very good players in Ralph Williams(2^nd Team All State last year), Jamaine Dean, Eric Eversley, Darious World and Brandon Poore.  Ft. Myers was 20-9 last year and they were district champions.  They return all five starters in Colin Henry, Buddy McClendon, Tyler Manning, Matt Yance and Evin Graham.

The 2:30 PM game has St. Petersburg High School playing Miller Grove High School of Lithonia, GA. .St. Pete High brings four starters back from a team that went 24-6. These four, Gabriel Moton, Allen Wilson, Jerry Poindexter-Brown and Darlon Bentley are all considered Division prospects.  Miller Grove was 30-3 last year as they won the Georgia AAAA Championship.  The Wolverines are only in their 4^th year of existence but  they are considered a Georgia PowerHouse.  Watch Adarius Fulton, Donte Williams, Tony Parker and Henry Brooks.

The 4:00 PM game will see Savannah High School of Savannah, GA face off against perennial power American Heritage High of Plantation, FL.. American Heritage  was the runner up in last year’s Shoot Out. They were 21-6 last year and come loaded again.  Watch Marcus Blake, Juan Ferrales, Jake Wheeler, Tomislav Gabric and a remarkable ninth grader named Mikon Hewitt.  Savannah High was 25-5 last year and made it to the Elite 8.  Coach Tim Jordan has led his teams to the State Playoffs for 12 consecutive years.  The team is led by Jim Porter, James Sinclar and Kavon Freeman.

The 6:00 PM game has Northeast High School of Oakland Park, FL playing Mariner HS of Cape Coral, FL.  Northeast HS was 21-7 last season and District champions.  The are young but talented.  The players to watch are Jalani Hewitt, Daniel Sapp, Trevor Franklin, Dervin Johnson and Demitrius Henry.  Mariner was 13-14 last year but they are returning nine players including their starting 5.  They have a talented 3 point shooter in Ricardo Barsesa and some very strong supporting players in Kameron Beach (who has a 4.1 GPA and scored a 1240 on his SATs) and in Clint Johnson.

The 7:00 PM game matches T.W. Andrews High School of High Point, NC with Osceola HS.  TW Andrews was 24-5 last year and made it to North Carolina’s elite 8.  They finished 5^th in last year’s Shoot Out.  Players to watch are Alex Smith, Corban Collins (was the only Freshman named to the All Conference team last year), Torian Showers, Darius Rogers and Mark Johnson.  Osceola HS was 19-10 last year with a trip to the state playoffs.   Players to watch B.J. Butler (who has signed to play football at Georgia), Brenton Williams, Jedarian Jackson and Michael Sanchez.

The final game of the day is scheduled for  8:30 PM and matches St. Francis DeSales High School of Columbus, OH with Poinciana HS of Kissimmee, FL. . St. Francis DeSales  was 17-3 last year and made it the Ohio Final Four in their classification. They feature Nick Kellogg who is the son of CBS analyst, Clark Kellogg and Adam Griffin who is the son of two time Heisman winner, Archie Griffin.  Poinciana was 16-10 last year and it is relying Wayne Ricks and Lex Curry to lead them through the Shoot Out.