Brooks’ 31 points pace Lake Worth

DELRAY BEACH — The high school basketball season is less than two weeks old, but the District 10-8A race should be pretty fun.

In a back-and-forth contest between two of the area’s top big school programs, Lake Worth edged Atlantic, 79-74, in overtime for an early district win. Avery Brooks led the Trojans with 32 points in the win. Japhat Medor chipped in with 12 points.

“These guys fight,” Lake Worth coach Murray Smith said. “I was proud of our guys because we could’ve folded a couple of times, but we didn’t and won it.”

For Atlantic, Kadeem Wilks scored a team-high 27 points, while Rodwens Albert added 20 points.

Lake Worth jumped out to a 19-18 lead after the first quarter thanks to a torrid start from Brooks. The junior guard nailed three 3s and scored 13 points to set the pace early for the Trojans.

Atlantic began to find more offensive rhythm in the second quarter as Wilks and Albert started to take over. The duo combined for 30 points in the first half as the Eagles took a 37-35 lead into the locker room.

The Eagles carried that momentum into the second half, taking a 58-50 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But in the final frame, Lake Worth mounted a strong comeback. The Trojans tied the game at 62 with 4:20 left and then took the lead 30 seconds later on a Marvin Frederick three-pointer.

Lake Worth held a fivepoint advantage with under a minute to play, but this time it was Atlantic’s turn to come from behind. Running in transition, Albert found Wilks in the corner and the junior drained a three with 20 seconds left to tie the game up at 71. Albert had the chance to put the Eagles up with 5 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, setting up overtime.

In the extra session, Lake Worth outscored Atlantic 8-3 to earn the road victory.