I had the opportunity to check out some basketball in Port Salerno this weekend. Martin County High School head coach Andre McIntyre invited me to some glorified scrimmages featuring the St. Lucie West Centennial Eagles, Martin County Tigers, and the W.T. Dwyer Panthers. Each team got two games at the Murray Middle School gym to provide some entertainment for the Bahamian Connection Festival across the street at New Monrovia Park.

There were no real surprises as Dwyer dominated Centennial going up by almost 25 points, before Centennial managed to get into double digits. Dwyer handled Martin County with a 4 point victory and County left no doubt that Centennial will be in for a long season with a twenty plus victory.

The triple threat of Alfonso Towns, Corey Young, and Leemire Goldwire is going to be potent for Coach Fred Ross this year. The benefit of several 6'6" plus athletes including sophomore Tuboris Larkins will provide some low post problems for this year's competition. Dwyer's district was weakened with the loss of Boynton Beach to District 8 in Class 6A. Watch for Dwyer to steamroll their way through an undefeated district schedule.

Leemire Goldwire showed why he is a top rated guard in the state. Some great passing and defensive performance against Centennial and a good 3 point shooting performance against Martin County. He is a solid guard prospect. The addition of Young at the wing and an almost gang style of big guys crashing the boards provided a hodge podge of put-back dunks and several of the fast break variety. The post players for Dwyer looked good, but even when Goldwire was on the sidelines, "Lee" was still offering directions on offense.

Martin County's lone standout apears to be junior Aaron Simmons. A 5'8" point guard that is quick as lightening. He had ten of Martin County's first fourteen points against Dwyer in the first game of the morning. Martin County's starting lineup was senior strong last year with the likes of Ferrel Graham, Trumaine Pearson, and Florida Southern freshmen Hurley Dunbar. Senior Addis Wilson is the lone returning starter. Martin County offered Dwyer some competition before ultimately losing by a 4 point margin. The Tiger's district featured one of last year's best teams in Palm Beach Lakes. It is safe to say County will be fighting for 2nd place.

Centennial continues to struggle. Coach Rick McHardy will hope to find five athletes that can play basketball together. Their game against Dwyer was not very pretty as Goldwire consistently ripped the ball from anyone trying to handle the point guard position. The game was more of a dunk contest at one point. Successive steals from Goldwire provided the small gym crowd with some entertainment.

The last games of the day featured a variety of former players from South Fork, Martin County, and Centennial including former Martin County guard Eddie Davis. A lot of trash talkin' between the players led to a few interesting moments that finished a fun 4 hours of basketball.