Carey’s 29 powers U-School into finals

Montverde win sets up all-Florida title game

MIDDLE VILLAGE, N.Y. — University School had revenge on its mind heading into Friday’s GEICO High School Nationals semifinal against national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy.

Oak Hill, out of Mouth of Wilson, Va., had handed the FHSAA Class 5A state champions their only loss, 83-69 on Jan. 15 in Springfield, Mass. Friday, thirdseeded University School turned the tables on second-seeded Oak Hill, taking command after a tight first quarter for an 80-65 victory at Christ the King High School.

University School (33-1), ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by USA Today, will meet national No. 1 Montverde Academy (34-0) at noon today in an allFlorida final for the national championship. The game will be televised by ESPN.

Montverde took down Nevada’s Findlay Prep 71-53 in the other semifinal.

“It’s very satisfying,” University School coach Adrian Sosa said of taking the rematch. “It’s something that we were looking forward to all year.

“We had an opportunity to play them in January and it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. So, just the way everything lined up today, having the chance to play them again, it was a perfect storm.”

Junior All-American Vernon Carey Jr. led University School

with 29 points and 6 rebounds. The 6-foot-10 center connected on 13 of 16 shots from the field.

“I just tried to focus inside because I tried shooting and basically it wasn’t falling ... so I focused in the paint,” Carey said.

Scottie Barnes, one of the top sophomores in the country, finished with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. West Virginia 2018 signee Trey Doomes had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

University School connected on 29 of 52 fieldgoal attempts and canned 21 of 27 free throws.

“I feel like it was more like revenge,” Doomes said. “They came and beat us the first time. We just had a chip on our shoulder. Played harder than they did.”

Oregon guard signee Will Richardson led Oak Hill with 23 points. Kansas big-man recruit David McCormack posted a doubledouble (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Gators-bound Keyontae Johnson added 13. Kentucky signee Keldon Johnson, who missed the entire first half with a sprained ankle, tried to go on it and finished with six.

“I felt good going into the game, but we didn’t play well,” Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said. “Not going to make any excuses. But it didn’t help that he [Keldon Johnson] was injured obviously.

“We just had a lot of breakdowns defensively. They hurt us on the glass in the second half with second shots. Barnes and Carey dominated us on the offensive end. They played great.”

The game was back-andforth in the first quarter with University School holding a 15-14 advantage after one quarter. The Sharks took their first double-digit lead at 36-26 on a 3-pointer by Doomes in the second quarter.

University School led 53-44 after three. The closest Oak Hill would get in the fourth was seven, 53-46, before the Sharks poured it on late.

Sosa said it was University School’s defense that was the difference the second time around vs. Oak Hill.

The Sharks out-rebounded Oak Hill 32-22 and forced the Warriors into 16 turnovers, while only committing eight themselves.

“Defensively our effort, attention to detail, for the last month or so just has been on another level,” Sosa said. “Really taking pride in guarding guys and making them work. Scottie was banged-up in that [first] game as well — that week leading up to it — so that was a big factor as well.”