Montverde takes MAIT title; Master’s wins
A day after getting off to a slow start, Montverde Academy had no such issues on Saturday night.
In front of a packed and rowdy gym, the Eagles defeated New York state champion Long Island Lutheran 83-47 to capture the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament.
The win improves Montverde to 22-0 and continues the conversation surrounding the team as to where it stacks up as one of the best high school basketball teams in recent memory.
Guard Langston Love finished with a team-high 14 points. Dariq Whitehead and Arkansas commit Moses Moody each had 12 points and McDonald’s AllAmerican Day’Ron Sharpe added 10 points.
Love proved to be a catalyst off the bench. His suffocating defense and his ability to make open shots paced Montverde in front of its home crowd.
“It’s just big for us to win in front our peers because we don’t get to play in front of our peers a lot,” Love said. “To win in front of our peers is everything.”
Over the three-day tournament in their own gymnasium, the Eagles defeated the top team in New York, the top team in Louisiana in Scotlandville Magnet and three-time defending state champion Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy.
“I feel like these last three days, throughout these games, we stayed resilient,” FSU signee and McDonald’s All-American Scottie Barnes said. “The other teams came out fighting and we just kept our own pace.”
Montverde’s immense talent and depth was on display against Long Island Lutheran.
The Eagles got off to a fast start when Barnes opened the scoring with a dunk within the first five seconds of the game. From there, outside shooting was the story.
Guard Caleb Houstan made three 3-point shots in the first half. Arkansas commit Moody hit two more and Love added another trey to give Montverde 40-21 lead at halftime.
The inside presence of Sharpe, a North Carolina signee, gave the Crusaders fits the entire game. Sharpe had several dunks, including an alley-oop slam early in the third quarter that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Oklahoma State signee and McDonald’s All-American Cade Cunningham struggled with foul trouble during the contest and could not get into a rhythm. He finished with only one point after leading the Eagles in scoring in the first two rounds of the tournament.
Montverde continues its
apursuit of its fifth national No. 1 title in eight years as it heads to Maryland for the St. James Invitational beginning on Thursday.
So far this season the Eagles have won their games by an average score of 86-48 against a schedule composed largely of state or nationally ranked opponents.
“If you don’t win the whole thing, then you just can’t say it,” said coach Kevin Boyle about whether he thinks this team can be one of the best ever. “I think if we do what we’re supposed to do and keep winning, then I think you have that discussion later on.”
Master’s goes 2-1: The Master’s Academy, the second Central Florida team in the Montverde tournament, won the consolationbracket final 67-56 against Canadian champion Crestwood Prep of Toronto to complete a 2-1 weekend.
Corey Sawyer Jr. scored 23 points for the Eagles (14-6) on Saturday. Drew Thelwell added 16.