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GASO: Flower Mound Marcus wins again

CARROLLTON, Texas -- One of the best summer teams in the nation just so happens to be a high school team from Texas.
Flower Mound Marcus High School made the finals of yet another grassroots tournament on Monday, and the team defeated the Dallas Mustangs, 63-55, in the finals of the Memorial Day Great American Shoot-Out at the Integrated Athletic Development. Marcus, with the win, won its second consecutive GASO championship, as it claimed the May GASO title the first week of last month.
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Monday's final was a much-anticipated rematch from the May GASO, which Marcus won by 18. Marcus had a big second half in the first meeting against the Mustangs in May. Monday's meeting was decided with a couple of big plays late in the second half.
"This one was a grind, and it was all about will power," Marcus coach John Leininger said. "It was all about big players making big plays."
Marcus' trio of Marcus Smart, Phil Forte and Nick Banyard came up big in the second half, scoring 33 of the team's 34 points in the half. Banyard had the most critical points, scoring a basket at the 1:55 mark to give Marcus a four-point lead and then giving the crowd a monster dunk with 40 seconds remaining to give Marcus a 57-52 edge.
For the game, the trio combined for 53 of the team's 63 points. Smart led the way for Marcus by contributing 23 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and five assists.
Marcus only led, 29-24, at the half. The Mustangs pulled within one a couple of times in the second half, but Marcus never managed to give up its lead permanently.
"They did a great job of executing," Mustangs coach Al Johnson said. "They capitalized off a few mistakes we had on offense and defense. Every time we fought back to cut the lead to two or three, they came right back with a basket or a free throw. That's how smart they were. If we scored, they answered back."
Leininger added: "They [the Mustangs] are very good. I want to make sure that's known. They're very good."
In addition to Smart's performance, Forte had 15 points, and Banyard added 13 for Marcus. Ryan Bowie and Zach LeDay combined for 25 points to lead the Mustangs.
Marcus finished the tournament with a 7-1 record. The loss, a rarity with the team's group of players, came in a pool-play game against the Houston Select on Sunday. Smart did not play in that game, as he rested from a nagging turf toe injury. Following that loss, it was evident that the Marcus players were determined not to lose again.
"We took [Houston Select] a little lightly, and we learned good lessons from it," Leininger said. "They know this is all about Marcus basketball, and these kids are winners. They know how to win, and they won't accept anything else."
MEMORIAL DAY GREAT AMERICAN SHOOT-OUT
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME BOXSCORE
(At the Integrated Athletic Development, Carrollton)
NBA DIVISION
MARCUS HS 29 34 - 63
DAL. MUSTANGS 24 31 - 55
Marcus: Marcus Smart 23, Nick Banyard 13, A.J. Luckey 6, Jared Hamilton 3, Phil Forte 15, John Malone 3
Mustangs: Ryan Bowie 14, Jabril Durham 6, Niem Stevenson 8, Randy White 2, Zach LeDay 11, Julius Foster 8, Travon Owens 3, Darius Parker 3
MEMORIAL DAY GREAT AMERICAN SHOOT-OUT
(At the Integrated Athletic Development, Carrollton)
NBA DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
Run N Shoot Elite 76, Dallas Showtyme Select 66
Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Hardge 69, Champions Select 2012 66
Top Achievers Pistons 63, ATX-Farley 52
Houston Select 17s 82, Triumph Select White 79
Fort Worth Trimble Tech HS 75, Dallas Heroes 17s 62
DJH5-Houston 75, Texas Select-Marlon 68
Dallas Mustangs 72, OKC Primetime 51
San Antonio RoHawks-Hector 61, Team Texas-O'Dell 56
Legends 17U 76, Southwest Elite 68
Triumph Select Gold 63, San Antonio Bearcats 56
Dallas Mustangs 75, Dallas Trojans (Hedake) 74
OK Wizards Elite 60, Dallas Showtyme Elite 56
Austin Ice 56, Fort Worth FIRM 32
San Antonio Legends 56, South Texas Irish 51
Texas D-1 Ambassadors-San Antonio 65, Islanders Basketball Foundation 56
Flower Mound Marcus HS 60, TX Bluechips-Navy 48
SECOND ROUND
Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Hardge 85, Run N Shoot Elite 76
Top Achievers Pistons 72, Houston Select 69
Fort Worth Trimble Tech HS 99, DJH5-Houston 81
Dallas Mustangs 71, San Antonio RoHawks-Hector 59
Triumph Select Gold 69, Legends 17U 64 (2 OT)
Dallas Mustangs-Booker 71, OK Wizards Elite 59
San Antonio Legends 70, Austin Ice 63
Flower Mound Marcus HS 67, Texas D-1 Ambassadors-San Antonio 62
QUARTERFINALS
Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Hardge 62, Top Achievers Pistons 51
Dallas Mustangs 64, Fort Worth Trimble Tech HS 55
Dallas Mustangs-Booker 61, Triumph Select Gold 56
Flower Mound Marcus HS 67, San Antonio Legends 38
SEMIFINALS
Dallas Mustangs 66, Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Hardge 55
Flower Mound Marcus HS 61, Dallas Mustangs-Booker 40
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Flower Mound Marcus HS 63, Dallas Mustangs 55
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