Trenton was in a back-and-forth battle with one of the top teams in Georgia on Monday morning at Santa Fe College on the opening day of the Dan Cross Florida Get Down Showcase.

And when the Tigers needed plays, they got them from their best player, junior Mason VunCannon.

VunCannon had an old-fashioned three-point play and then hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with the shot clock running down in the final 30 seconds of the game as Trenton (10-2) rallied past Cedar Shoals (Georgia) 60-56.

VunCannon had a game-high 24 points, with 10 of those coming in the final quarter. He scored 10 of the Tigers’ 16 points in the final period to lead Trenton to the win.

“I’ve just come to expect those kinds of plays from him,” Trenton coach Eric Bullis said. “He’s the best player in the Rural classification. I didn’t worry about him taking that three-pointer because I expected him to make those.”

VunCannon got off to a slow start, with only three points in the first quarter and seven points at the half. Junior Marc Micale had eight points in the first half, as the two teams traded the lead back-and-forth.

Trenton scored the first six points of the game before Cedar Shoals (8-4), which is in Athens, Georgia, got their offense moving. Senior Deston Foote had seven of his team-high 18 points in the opening quarter as Cedar Shoals took a 17-16 lead.

The two teams were tied 29-29 at halftime, and Trenton edged ahead 44-43 after three quarters. Cedar Shoals led by as many as seven points in the third quarter, but VunCannon and Micale led Trenton back.

The fourth quarter was more of the same until VunCannon’s six straight points in the final two minutes.

“I was a little concerned, we hadn’t played in 10 days and it was kind of an early start,” Bullis said. “But I thought we handled it well and beat a very good team in the process.”

Trenton returns to action at the Get Down Showcase at 10 a.m. on Tuesday against Rickards (Tallahassee). 

Buzzer-beater lifts Eastside past Rickards (Tallahassee)

Eastside’s Brendan Brockington went scoreless for about 31 minutes and 59 seconds of Monday afternoon’s game against Rickards (Tallahassee) in the Dan Cross Florida Get Down Showcase at Santa Fe College.

But Brockington came up with the biggest shot of the game and it brought on a huge Eastside celebration on the court.

Brockington nailed a 30-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer for his only points of the game to propel the Rams to a 38-37 win over Rickards.

Eastside (4-3) struggled to score most of the game, but the Rams’ defense, particularly that of Brockington, helped bring them back against the Raiders (5-6).

“He hadn’t made a shot all game, and then he (Brockington) knocks down the game-winner,” Eastside coach Herman “Pop” Williams said. “But his defense was key, especially in the second half against their (Rickards) best player.”

Rickards senior Calvin Thomas scored 14 of Rickards’ 20 points in the first half. But with Brockington, who also plays football for Eastside, bodying up on Thomas most of the second half, the Raiders’ leading scorer only managed one field goal.

Thomas was the only player in double figures for either team with 21 points. Both teams struggled outside the 3-point line and at the free-throw line.

“We are a pretty young team, so it’s hard sometimes to get the kids to run offense and not just shoot three-pointers,” Williams said. “But defensively we (Eastside) are playing well, and I’m pretty confident the offense will come around.”

Junior Raheim Littles led Eastside with nine points, and sophomore LaQuon Prunty added seven for the Rams.

Rickards led 16-7 after the opening period, thanks to 10 points from Thomas. But Eastside turned up the defense in the second period, allowing only four points. and pulling within four at the half at 20-16.

The second half was back and forth until the end. Brockington actually missed a five-footer inside with thirty seconds left that would have given the Rams a one-point lead. Thomas was fouled but hit only one-of-two from the line, setting up Brockington’s heroics at the buzzer for the win.

Eastside is back in action for day two of the Showcase at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday against Fort White.