It was a jam-packed two days at Tallahassee Community College's Eagledome for the 2023 Capital City Holiday Classic.

The annual two-day round-robin basketball tournament, held Wednesday and Thursday, returned as nine area programs went head-to-head with teams from across Florida and South Georgia.

Godby stuns Munroe, Cougars keep growing in confidence

It’s been a quick start to life for Godby under first-year head coach Alex Williams, sitting at 7-3 after a 63-50 win over Munroe at the Capital City Holiday Classic Thursday.

Godby’s victory didn’t seem likely in the first half with Munroe leading by 13 at halftime. The Cougars, led by junior Mekhi Butler, roared back in the third quarter to take the lead. Never looking back, Godby flipped the script and beat Munroe by 13.

Williams said his message to his players at halftime was simple, giving his players credit for their response to the deficit.

”Show everybody how bad you want it,” Williams said in his halftime message.

"We just had to find a way to get it done, I just want to congratulate the kids because they are so resilient. They fought last night and we had to figure it out and we didn't quite do so. But we made the adjustments that needed to be made, personnel came in and they did everything that they were asked to do. And we got the victory."

Only the second team to beat Munroe this season, Williams said that Thursday night's victory is an important boost to his team.

"One thing this does is build confidence, and confidence is needed at this time of year when we are about to face the meat and potatoes of our schedule, we really want to be prepared," Williams said. "You don't want to go into those games without these kinds of games. Coming out on top of these types of games, it feels real good."

The Cougars went 1-1 at the Classic, falling in day one to Macaly 50-46. But Williams feels like the experince was good for his squad, who he says still has things it can improve on.

"We obviously have some work to do, we all know that we got to get back to the drawing board," Williams said. "But the kids showed resilience tonight and it's just one of those things where you come in and you fight and it feels good to come out on top of things."

Shorthanded Rickards go 1-1 during Classic play

One of the Big Bend's best teams, Rickards entered the Capital City Holiday Classic shorthanded, playing the round-robin tournament with eight players. The Raiders split two games, beating Treasure Coast 44-41, and falling to Marianna 57-54.

The matchup with Marianna came down to the final seconds. The Raiders erased an eight-point deficit to make it a one-score game, but the game-tying three-point attempt by Romie Cosby fell short.

Head coach Eli Bryant said early turnovers hurt his team, but the players showed their ability by keeping the game close.

"We did a couple of things that we shouldn't have done at certain times, the wrong people got the ball. Just got to learn from that," Bryant said. "With all we did and all the mistakes we made, we were right there. In the first half, we must have given them the ball eight times right in the lane, it's hard to win games like that, but we hung in there and we'll grow from this."

Playing one of the toughest schedules in the Big Bend, the game against Marianna was another big test for the Raiders. Even in the loss, Bryant said the game against the Bulldogs was just a part of the process of getting closer to the program goal.

"At the end of the day, you got to win seven games in a row to win the state championship. So we try and prepare for that, and along the way you're gonna lose one or two," Bryant said. "I'll go back there and tell him that we weren't playing for the Capital City Classic Championship. But in March, we hope to play for the state championship. That's our goal."

Results from the Capital City Holiday Classic

Day 1

Marianna 77, Gadsden County 61

Maclay 50, Godby 46

Florida High 68, Peach County 27

Crossroad Academy 58, Kings Academy 56

Munroe 63, West Florida 55

Rickards 44, Treasure Coast 41

Day 2

Gadsden County 5, Maclay 41

West Florida 50, FAMU DRS 34

Treasure Coast 58, Florida High 56

Peach County 51, Crossroad Academy 46

Godby 63, Munroe 50

Marianna 57, Rickards 54

Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 9 area programs shine at the 2023 Capital City Classic