Strong, Atkinson lead Westminster Academy

COCONUT CREEK — Senior center Paul Atkinson gave Westminster Academy the lead for good at 58-57 with two free throws, and senior forward Jason Strong added a huge put-back with 14 seconds remaining to lift the Lions over University School 60-57 Saturday at the Kreul Showcase at Monarch High School.

University School, which lost both of its star sophomore big men — Vernon Carey Jr. and Balsa Koprivica — in the final two minutes to foul trouble, had one last shot to tie the game with a 3-pointer but did not get a shot off.

Westminster Academy ran its record to 5-0 in the early season Broward showdown, while University School fell for the first time in three contests.

The 6-foot-9 Strong, who has signed to attend Northeastern, led all scorers with 23 points, 18 of which came in the second half. Yale signee Atkinson added 15 points for the Lions.

The 6-9 Carey led University School with 18 points.

With the game tied at 54 late, Atkinson was able to foul out both Koprivica and Carey on successive drives to the basket. Atkinson first victimized the 7-1 Koprivica and hit both free throws to give the Lions a 56-54 advantage with 2 minutes to play.

After senior guard Michael Moore put the Sharks back on top 57-56 with a 3-pointer with 1:32 to go, Atkinson fouled out Carey with another drive to the hole. Atkinson hit both free throws to put Westminster up 58-57.

After Swinton Acosta missed on an attempt to put the Sharks up, Atkinson was fouled again. This time he missed the front end of the one-and-one, but there was Strong with the put-back to give the Lions a 60-57 lead with 14 seconds left. Playing with five guards, University School was unable to get off a shot in the waning seconds.

Junior guard Zach Scott had 8 points for Westminster, while sophomore guard Chase Johnston and freshman Dudley Blackwell added 7 apiece. Koprivica had 12 points for U-School. In other games: DWYER 77, MC-ARTHUR 46: Dwyer (2-0) blew out McArthur (5-2) in a game played with a running clock after the 2:57 mark of the third quarter. Junior Miles Coleman led the Panthers with 19 points, and senior Tommie Luke had 16.

ST. ANDREW’S 72, FORT LAUDERDALE 26: Florida State shootingguard signee Anthony Polite led the Scots in the blowout with 15 points. Ivan Chmyrenko added 13 points for St. Andrew’s, and Ryan McAdoo had 12. Fort Lauderdale guard Jeffrey Prophete, who was averaging 40 points a game, was held scoreless. Prophete has signed with Towson.

CYPRESS BAY 82, MIAMI GULLIVER PREP 56: Cypress Bay trailed at halftime 28-25 but rolled in the second half. Brandon Garcia had 25 points.

DILLARD VS. SAGEMONT (late): The Dillard-Sagemont showdown started after 9 p.m. and was not finished for this newspaper.

BLANCHE ELY 68, MIAMI NORLAND 59 (late Friday): Ely improved to 5-0. Norland is 2-1.

PAT LAMMER/CORRESPONDENT Westminster Academy coach Ehren Wallhoff addresses his team Saturday night.