He didn’t have the hoopla, but plenty of hoop.

Thomas Manzano was not a hot-list name at the Sport2Sport/Jayhawk Invitational like Kansas University prospect Cole Aldrich or rising star Davon Jefferson, but Manzano showed his game when the tournament’s championship was on the line as his Jackson (Miss.) Panthers defeated the Houston Roundballers, 61-44, Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse for the 17-and-under title.

Manzano took home the tournament MVP trophy after a sizzling second-half performance in which he scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting — all while nursing a hurt right leg.

“I think he pulled something, but he’s a competitor,” Panthers coach Darrin Chancellor said. “He’s going to give you everything he’s got.”

What Manzano had was a shot that wouldn’t miss. At one point, he made three consecutive three-pointers. One of his shots was thrown up with a shrug of his shoulders, and it still swished through.

“I missed two (three-pointers), but coach said, ‘Keep shooting it,’ and when it went in it just kept going in,” said Manzano, a Brooklyn native who attends a private Christian school near Jackson.

Chancellor was hesitant to put Manzano in the game at first, but Manzano pleaded — and won.

“I told coach I still wanted to play,” said the sophomore guard, who has yet to compile a list of possible colleges. “I didn’t come over here for nothing. I wanted to win.”

Despite only suiting up six players — compared to Jackson’s dozen — for its last four games in the tournament, the Roundballers only were down by three points at the half with Jackson holding a slight 26-23 advantage.

Thomas Manzano celebrates his third consecutive three-pointer against the Houston Roundballers. Manzano and the Jackson (Miss.) Panthers won the Sport2Sport/Jayhawk Invitational 17-and-under title game, 61-44, Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse. Manzano was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

Houston’s Devin McDonald had a scoring spurt of his own with 10 points, giving his team a 34-33 lead early in the second half. Then Manzano took over.

As for Houston, the lack of substitutes showed during crunch time.

“We stopped doing what we had been doing the whole tournament,” Roundballers coach Mark McClanahan said. “We’ve been playing very unselfish, but we’re just tired.”

McDonald led his squad with 18 points, while Shay Hodge and Oklahoma State commit Kenneth Cooper scored a combined 23 points for Jackson.

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All-tournament team: Cooper and teammate Andre Stephens joined Manzano on the all-tournament team, as did Houston’s Alexis Wagmene.

Jefferson made the team despite the fact that his team, the defending tournament champion Southern California H-Squad, lost to Jackson in the first game Sunday, 80-68. Aldrich of the Minnesota Magic Elite and Mekan Moss of the Kansas City Keys rounded out the mythical squad.

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According to Aldrich: After completing yet another visit to Lawrence, Aldrich, a 6-foot-11 sophomore forward from Bloomington, Minn., still has a strong interest in the Jayhawks.

“I still like it. It’s a great experience to just be able to come here and play in here. … Not many people get to do that,” Aldrich said after his Minnesota Magic Elite team beat the Kansas City Keys, 61-58, in the 17-under consolation championship at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I love the campus. I don’t like the wind, though,” he said.

“Everybody’s real nice and I always just like coming down here,” added Aldrich, who chatted briefly with KU guard J.R. Giddens before the game.

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Recovering recruit: Tyrone Shelley had a weekend he won’t soon to forget. The sophomore from San Diego spent almost as much time as a medical patient as he did a basketball player. But even after spraining his left wrist Friday and getting pieces of glass removed from his right elbow after a backboard-shattering incident Saturday, Shelley said that he was “doing good right now.”

Despite playing with a medical wrapping around his elbow Sunday morning, he finished with 22 points in the losing effort to Jackson (Miss.).

He said his elbow was fine after a couple of stitches, the result of joining H-Squad teammate Jefferson in a near dual dunk to bring down a backboard at Horesji Center.

6Sports video: Panthers rout Roundballers in Jayhawk tourney

“I was exited, so I didn’t really care, but there was glass all over,” Shelley said.

Kansas fans might see Shelley again in Lawrence — taking a recruiting visit.

“Kansas is up there,” he said. “I could myself playing in a place like this, definitely.”