Montverde wins City of Palms Classic
FSU recruit Barnes’ double-double leads No. 1 Eagles over IMG Academy in final
Montverde Academy overcame an early deficit and defeated another boys basketball boarding school powerhouse, IMG Academy of Bradenton, 63-55 to win the City of Palms Classic in a final that drew a packed-house crowd of about 3,000 in Fort Myers on Monday night.
FSU recruit Scottie Barnes led the way with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists as the consensus national No. 1 Eagles (10-0) won with standout senior point guard Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State) missing time due to foul trouble. Day’ron Sharpe, a 6-foot-10 North Carolina signee, added 15 points and 7 rebounds in the victory.
Cunningham missed time after picking up his third foul in the second quarter but contributed 7 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
The matchup featured eight of the nation’s top 50 seniors, two of the top 20 juniors and four of the top 25 sophomores, according to the Fort Myers News-Press.
IMG (7-2) beat Montverde in a Geico National semifinal to end the Eagles’ 2018-19 season and entered this season rated No. 1 nationally in some corners.
Montverde will play in another tournament, the John Wall Invitational, Friday through Monday, in Raleigh, N.C. After that, they will go to Memphis, Tenn., for an ARS Hoopfest event, Jan. 3-4; and then to New Jersey for the Metro Shore Classic, Jan. 10-11.
The national tour continues with two games at the HoopHall Classic in Springfield, Mass. Montverde will play a rematch against IMG on Jan. 19, followed by a Jan. 20 rematch with McEachern (Ga.), a team the Eagles spanked 99-48 in a City of Palms semifinal.
The Eagles then will play their first and only home games of the New Year, Jan. 23-25, as host of the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament.
Oak Ridge update:
Oak Ridge (7-2), the No. 1 team in the Sentinel Super 16 area boys basketball rankings, went 2-2 at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas. The Pioneers had wins against Milwaukee Washington and Liberty of Nevada, wrapped around losses to tournament champion Sierra Canyon (11-0) of California 76-55 and to Desert Pines of Las Vegas 59-46.
Oak Ridge plays in the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans, Jan. 2-4.
‘Noles at home: Seminole, the No. 2 team in the Super 16, improved to 8-0 with a 78-70 victory over Fort Lauderdale Stranahan in a singular City of Palms Classic game. The Seminoles are hosting their own Seminole Holiday Classic, an eight-team tournament, Thursday through Saturday.
Seminole will actually have two squads in the tournament — including a “B” team that will have JV players and a few varsity reserves.
The field includes Chattooga (8-3) of Georgia and six Florida teams aside from the Seminole.
Florida Prospects times six: The 48-team Florida Prospects Christmas Tournament for girls basketball is actually six eightteam tournaments all rolled into one huge weekend. Games will be played at four high schools: Lake Highland Prep, Dr. Phillips, Wekiva and Olympia on Thursday through Saturday.
The Platinum Bracket is loaded. Host Lake Highland is 11-1 and will represent Florida alongside Montverde Academy, Winter Haven, Pompano Beach Ely and Fort Lauderdale Aquinas. St. Francis Prep (6-0) of New York City is ranked No. 2 in its state. And Glynn Academy (11-2) of Georgia has 6-foot-1 major-college prospect Zoesha Smith averaging 21.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.
Florida Prospects is putting on a boys basketball tournament at Dr. Phillips. That field includes the host Panthers (8-3) and two stateranked teams: Leesburg (7-1) and
St. Petersburg Lakewood (6-1).
Basketball bits
■ Bishop Moore’s Jim Clark Classic this week has eight boys teams and eight girls squads. That includes a Doral Academy team featuring 27 point-per-game scorer Devin Carter, a 6-foot-4 senior who is the son of former 13-year NBA guard Anthony Carter. His team won the Class 7A state title in 2017-18. The host Hornets are 3-7 against a schedule that has included eight ranked teams.
■ Area No. 6 Central Florida Christian Academy improved to 8-1 with wins in Pennsylvania on Saturday and Monday. The Eagles also got to play in the snow.
■ Mount Dora Christian, which is 9-0 and one spot behind CFCA at No. 5 in the Class 2A state rankings, hosts its own Christmas tournament Friday and Saturday.
■ No. 7 Windermere Prep (9-1) hosts its Rock Holiday Classic this weekend. The Lakers were 9-0 before losing 56-53 at Jacksonville Providence (9-1) on Saturday.
■ No. 9 Ocoee (6-5), runner-up to Kissimmee Osceola (10-2) at last week’s The City Beautiful Invitational, continues its demanding schedule with a game against Tampa Hillsborough on Friday and a date with Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson on Saturday at The Florida Get Down Showcase at St Francis Catholic Academy of Gainesville.