Gulf Breeze basketball: Holidays mark return of Innisfree Hotels Beach Basketball Tournament

The final game of the 2021 Innisfree Hotels Beach Basketball Tournament came down to the wire.

Princeton High School clung to a one-point cushion over the host Gulf Breeze boys basketball team with 7.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Looking to send Dolphins fans home happy, junior guard Max Schneidt drove into the lane, but his right-handed scoop layup bounced high off the backboard and off the mark.

Following a made free throw, the Vikings, hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, emerged with a 66-64 victory on Wednesday from Gulf Breeze High School.

The conclusion of the three-day tournament was a well-played clinic between high-level programs from different ends of the country. That quality basketball was one of the many wishes co-directors Chip Boes and Arnold Gamber had in mind when they brought back the annual holiday event this week. It was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were able to put some of the pieces back together,” Gamber said. “We’re trying to give these teams a great experience; good basketball experience, but a good experience in Pensacola, too. We had to shake the rust off a little bit.

“We’re just trying to run a class event and give them good games and enable them to have a good time.”

This year’s edition of the Beach Tournament featured 43 girls and boys teams from 11 different states. In addition to Gulf Breeze High School, games were played at the two indoor courts located at the Gulf Breeze Recreational Center.

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Participates included squads from the basketball hotbeds of Tennessee and Kentucky as well as other squads making the trip from Texas, Pennsylvania and Colorado.

Forty-eight teams were initially scheduled to appear, but five schools pulled out. Still, 2021 continued the showcase’s steady expansion. Originally with 16 teams in 2017, the tournament has climbed from 24 teams in 2018 and 32 teams in 2019 to this year’s total.

Fifteen businesses supported the event by coming on as sponsors. Gamber noted that many past sponsors were unable to take part this year due to the hardships brought on by the coronavirus; some former sponsors were put out of business. Longtime supporters such as Whataburger and Shrimp Basket were among the businesses that returned as sponsors.

As for the future, Gamber hopes to enhance the event's website, PensacolaHoops.com, by adding information on the visiting teams and possibly live streaming games.

“Every year, we’re looking at what we can do to make this run smoother and be a better experience,” Gamber said.

As for the action on the floor, Gulf Breeze’s loss snapped a nine-game winning streak. Despite the defeat, Dolphins head coach Ryan Ottensmeyer is grateful for his team's opportunity to measure up against unfamiliar competition.

“It shows you a lot, where you don’t know the team that you are playing and they don’t know you. We all get film and we can scout each other, so we can pick up tendencies, but you don’t know the intensity and how your guys are going to react when they don’t know somebody,” he said. “With our guys and the seniors that have been playing for four years, they’ve been playing against the same guys. … So this gives you a good test to see how you’re going to react in adversity when you don’t know what the team is going to throw at you.”

Following a first half where neither squad built more than a three-point advantage, Princeton used a 21-6 third-quarter run to open 51-37 lead, the largest separation of the night.

Offensively, when they weren’t flying up the floor in transition, the Vikings were patient in the half-court, often swinging the ball from side to side before scoring inside on a backdoor cut. On the defensive end, the visitors utilized their quickness and speed by harassing ball handlers with a full-court press. On occasions when Gulf Breeze broke free from the pressure, the length and athleticism of senior forward Rodney Harris and sophomore forward Dorian Williams resulted in several highlight blocks.

Making matters worse for the hosts, senior guard and leading scorer Reece Bloomberg spent much of his time on the bench with foul trouble. However, the Dolphins stormed back early in the fourth.

After a pair of 3-pointers from senior guard John Cabassa and junior guard Jack Banks, Gulf Breeze went ahead when a Princeton turnover turned into in a breakaway dunk for junior center Colin Slatton.

From that point, the game was tied three times before a Williams 3-pointer with 29.5 seconds left gave the Vikings a lead they wouldn’t give away.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys. We battled,” Ottensmeyer said. “We knew they were good. We executed what we were trying to do. (We) handled the press, amazingly, but Princeton is absolutely athletic and get up and down the floor so quickly. Kudos to their team, but I was just so proud of how our guys fought. … It’s going to help us in the long run in our district and the games we got coming up in January in our area.”

Following a 2-1 showing in the tournament, Gulf Breeze is host to Pine Forest at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the Lady Dolphins completed tournament play with a 58-28 loss against Clarkrange (Tenn.) from the Gulf Breeze Recreational Center.

After dropping their three tourney games by an average of 24.7 points, the Gulf Breeze girls are 1-8 in their last nine games.

Even during the rough stretch, head coach Tyger Paris is encouraged with how her reserves have contributed in the absence of rotation players Emma Daily and Bianca Gatmaitan. The two juniors are out due to injury.

“Hopefully, we continue to grow,” Paris said. “I think we’ve seen girls come off the bench that have really had a big impact.. … We have some young girls on our team and with them being able to see this level of competition, they’ll be able to step it up a notch for the rest of our regular season games.”

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Holidays mark return of Innisfree Hotels Beach Basketball Tournament