Big performance for Miramar guard Xavier Martin
Miramar senior guard Xavier Martin scored a career-high 56 points, more than past Florida prep stars-turned-NBA players Keyon Dooling, James Jones and Raja Bell at the Back to School Classic on Saturday.
BY FABIAN LYON
flyon@MiamiHerald.com
Not even NBA players Keyon Dooling, James Jones, Raja Bell and Udonis Haslem could match Xavier Martin on Saturday.
Martin, a Miramar High school senior, scored a career-high 56 points, the most in the Tournament of Champions Back-to-School Classic history at Miami Dr. Michael Krop High School. The Classic, which runs through Sunday and concludes with the championships Oct. 10 has featured Haslem, Dooling, Jones and other top Florida prep stars before they moved on to college and then the NBA.
For one game, Martin proved to be better than them all by scoring 45 first-half points and finishing with 13 three-pointers. Martin's big day helped the Patriots' fall league team, miramarhurricanes.com defeat Coral Reef's Charles Hankerson Jr., an Alabama commit and dauncosmetis.com 90-45.
Although Hankerson finished with 30 points, Martin clearly won the head-to-head matchup with the more heralded prospect by hitting his first three shots and scoring 24 points during a torrid nine-minute stretch in the first half. The 56 broke the previous career-high of 39 points Martin had against perennial state power Miami Pace last season.
``After I hit my first few shots I knew it was going to be a good day,'' said Martin. ``They started trapping me but that didn't work. Everybody thought Charles would do this and do that because he is four inches taller than me. No, it wasn't going to happen. He couldn't guard me either so they had to go to zone.''
Despite averaging 20 points to earn All-Broward first team honors last season, Martin might be Florida's best kept secret. A lightning-quick 5-9 guard, the still uncommitted Martin drew raves from college scouts and ESPN.com's Reggie Rankin at the Nike Team Florida Exposure Camp in St. Petersburg last Saturday.
``Outside of Okaro White, Martin was the next best player at the Nike event,'' said Rankin. ``He is one of the most complete little guards not only in Florida but the entire country that is left, unsigned. If you can get away from his size he can do everything that you want a point guard to do. He can penetrate. He gets others involved and can make a play with the clock winding down. The kid is under-recruited. If I was coaching and I needed a point guard, I would sign him in a heartbeat.''
Join the discussion
The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.




















My Yahoo
@Nyx.replyAnswerText@