Mainland muscles past OCP in Tip-Off Classic
For the second consecutive year, a Volusia County boys basketball team will play for the Rotary Tip-Off Classic championship. And a No. 1-ranked team fell along the way.
Led by a stellar 24-point performance from senior guard Jordan Sears, Class 6A fifth-ranked Mainland scored a 55-51 victory vs. Class 2A top-ranked Orlando Christian Prep in a semifinal game of the 43rd annual Tip-Off Classic on Friday night at Winter Park High School.
Mainland (2-2), which has won two straight after losing to Oak Ridge and Jacksonville Andrew Jackson, will play for the title tonight against Seminole (3-0), which defeated host Winter Park 48-37 in Friday’s late semifinal. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
OCP (2-1) will play for third place at 7 against Winter Park (2-1).
Mainland overcame a 10-point deficit in the first quarter and an eight-point deficit in the third quarter to win it. Sears scored 13 points in a 22-11 game-ending run for the Buccaneers.
“We have been battle-tested and we just find a way to win,” Mainland coach Joe Giddens said. “Sears is tough. Sometimes, I just let him go, let him do his stuff.”
Sophomore AJ Brown had 14 points for OCP, which lost its standout center, Ven-Allen Lubin, to an ankle injury just before halftime. Mainland led 24-22 at the break.
Apopka won 63-61 against Port Orange Spruce Creek (1-2) in consolation bracket play. The Blue Darters (2-2), who are missing two starters due to injury, will play Edgewater (2-1) in the fifth place game at 5:15. be No. 2 6A South Miami, No. 3 2A CFCA, and No. 5 4A Lakewood.
Montverde crushes Lakewood: Montverde Academy showcased why it is one of the top teams in the country in its home opener.
Led by Cade Cunningham (17 points), Moses Moody (16) and a suffocating defense, the Eagles routed St. Petersburg Lakewood 95-35. MVA (3-0) led 60-12 in the first half against a Spartans team that came in 2-0 with a No. 2 state ranking in Class 4A.
Montverde, which is ranked No. 1 by MaxPreps, is home at 2 p.m. today against New Hope Academy (1-4) of Maryland.
Saturday showcases: Oviedo High School (1-1) and The Master’s Academy (3-0), which sit just a bit over two miles apart, will meet for the first time in varsity boys basketball in the final game of Saturday’s Hoops with a Heart event at Oviedo.
Master’s is on a roll, having scored 64 points in the first half of a 97-40 win against St. Cloud on Thursday night.
The Oviedo event lineup includes No. 7 2A Mount Dora Christian (3-0) and a 2-0 Lake Highland Prep team that is making a case for 4A rankings consideration.
Leesburg (2-0), ranked ninth in 5A, plays in the City of Orlando Holiday Hoops Classic.
Lake Highland Prep Ridge 23 (girls)
Oak Ridge 54, Dr. Phillips 41 (boys)
Jones vs. Clearwater Calvary Christian, 11 a.m.
CFCA vs. Tampa Blake, 12:30 p.m.
St. Pete Lakewood vs. Sarasota Victory Rock, 2
Windermere vs. Tampa Catholic, 3:30
IMG Academy vs. South Miami, 5
West Oaks vs. Miami Schoolhouse Prep, 6:30
Ocoee vs. Oak Ridge, 8
At Oviedo High School
Viera vs. Lake Brantley, 10:30 a.m.
Melbourne noon
Bishop Moore vs. Mount Dora Christian, 1:30 p.m.
The First Academy Beach, 3
University
Phillips, 4:30
Lake Highland Prep vs. Hagerty, 6
Oviedo vs. The Master’s Academy, 7:30
At Academy Center for Excellence, Orlando
Cocoa noon
Master’s
1:30 (girls)
Lake Wales Vanguard vs. Flagler Palm Coast, 3
North Florida Educational Institute vs. Covenant Prep, 4:30 IMG Academy vs. Leesburg, 6 Jones vs. Daytona DME Academy, 7:30 (girls)
vs. vs. Fleming vs. Vero (Orlando)
Inspire Academy, vs. 61, Oak vs.
Island,
Dr.
Potter’s House,