Montverde boys basketball clobbers Class 7A defending champ Miami Columbus
Miami Columbus has won consecutive Class 7A boys basketball state championships and with key additions added this year could go down as the best FHSAA title team ever if it earns a three-peat.
But the Explorers, a preseason national No. 3 team, were no match for top-ranked Montverde on Friday night in Day 2 of the Eagles’ three-day Sunshine Classic.
The Eagles (6-0) crushed Columbus (2-2) early with sweltering pressure defense and its trademark offensive balance and rolled to a 89-61 win in front of a big partisan crowd in the plush Montverde arena, nicknamed The Nest.
Montverde, owner of six consensus national titles in the past 11 seasons, opened the game with a dunk by Indiana signee Liam McNeeley off the tip and continued its scoring barrage until halftime.
Montverde led 13-4 midway through the first quarter and 25-6 at the end of the period. It was 32-8 in the second quarter and 47-18 at halftime after McNeeley, Robert Wright III and Asa Newell made 3s and Wright added another to beat the buzzer.
Columbus (2-2) found a rhythm against less intense defense after the break and outscored the Eagles 43-42 in the second half.
Aside from its powerful academy rival, IMG of Bradenton, Montverde has lost to a Florida team only one time in Kevin Boyle’s 13 years as head coach. Hagerty shocked the Eagles, 60-52, in a January 7, 2011, Showdown in O-Town game in Boyle’s first year with the Lake County boarding school.
Cooper Flagg, a 6-foot-9 Duke signee, led all scorers with 23 points in the victory. He added 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals.
McNeeley was 5-of-8 on 3-point tries and scored 20 points.
Wright (Baylor), the only newcomer in Montverde’s top six, had 18 points and 4 assists.
Newell (Georgia) had 13 points.
Cameron Boozer, a 6-10 junior, led Columbus (2-2) with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
Columbus is the only traditional high school program that Montverde will play this season unless the Eagles meet Oak Ridge of Orlando — another Class 7A state championship contender — during the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament in January.
Columbus returned four starters, including the Boozer twins, Cameron and Cayden. They added three newcomers, including Michigan State commit Jase Richardson, who did not play Friday due to injury.
Columbus dethroned Dr. Phillips, the 2021 Class 7A champion, with a 45-44 upset victory in the 2021-22 Class 7A final. The Boozer brothers combined to average 35.5 points per game as freshman phenoms.
Columbus repeated last season as Cameron averaged 21.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals. He joined former Lake Highland Prep great Joel Berry II as the second sophomore to win the Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Basketball award.
Columbus was rated No. 1 nationally in MaxPreps’ preseason rankings for teams that play for traditional state championships. Oak Ridge was No. 18 on that list and Orlando Christian Prep No. 85.
IMG edged Brewster Academy of New Hampshire, 67-63, in Friday’s opening game.
Montverde completes the three-day Sunshine Classic with a 7 p.m. Saturday game against Kansas independent Sunrise Christian (0-3). The Buffaloes were the team that spoiled Montverde’s bid to win the GEICO Nationals tournament with a quarterfinal upset last March.
That continues an extremely challenging schedule.
Montverde is now a member of the 14-team EYBL Scholastic circuit, which boasted seven of the nation’s top 10 and nine of the top 18 teams in the SC Next/ESPN preseason rankings. That list was topped by No. 1 Montverde and No. 2 Link Academy of Missouri — which emerged as the mythical national champion last season after winning the GEICO tournament.
Montverde has all nine of the EYBL’s ranked teams on its regular season schedule. It plays Link and No. 8 AZ Compass Prep of Arizona next Friday and Saturday in league games in Las Vegas.
The EYBL circuit, a spin-off of Nike’s top-tier Elite Youth Basketball League for travel teams, is an expansion from the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference that Montverde played a prominent role in building over the past three seasons. It also has teams from Arizona (2), California, Canada, Indiana, Kansas, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
The Eagles will be joined by Link, IMG, No. 5 Long Island Lutheran and Columbus in the renowned City of Palms tournament in Fort Myers, Dec. 18-23.
In January, Montverde plays two games in Utah and three Hall of Fame Classic games in Springfield, Massachusetts before a Jan. 20 home date with DME Academy of Daytona Beach.
The Eagles host their Jan. 25-27 Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament — an eight-team event that includes Oak Ridge along with Prolific Prep (9-1) — a California independent that lost 81-78 to Columbus in overtime in the Explorers opener.
Montverde finishes its set schedule with two-game trips to New Jersey, Tennessee, New York, and South Carolina on consecutive weekends through March 1.
That should set the table for another almost certain GEICO Nationals bid.
DP vs. Edgewater in Tip-Off final
For the second time in as many games at the Rotary Tip-Off Classic, the Dr. Phillips Panthers were in a game that came down to the wire. This time, freshman forward James Nowells’ clutch free throws led the Panthers to a 64-63 win over Sanford Seminole.
The victory sealed a spot for DP (3-0) in Saturday night’s championship game at Winter Park High. The Panthers will face Edgewater (3-0) at 8 p.m.
Nowells led the Panthers with 15 points and made a pair of free throws to give Dr. Phillips a 3-point lead with 17.8 seconds left in the game.
“He’s him,” Panthers coach Antonio Cunningham said. “His level of IQ for the game makes up for all those [freshman] errors he might have. You can’t rattle him. He stays poised.”
Panthers senior forward KJ Jones had 12 points, including a trio of thunderous dunks.
Seminole (2-1) senior point guard Dequan Ross scored 18 points
After Nowells’ free throws, Seminole pushed the ball and Ross was fouled. He made both free throws with 5.9 seconds remaining. On the Dr. Phillips’ inbound pass, senior guard Elijah Green slipped and was called for a travel. After a Seminole timeout, a chance to win the game fell short as Josiah Shackelford (11 points) lost the ball before taking a shot.
Edgewater overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Winter Park 61-54 in overtime in front of a raucous crowd. That was Edgewater’s second OT win of the season.
“We’ve been here before,” Edgewater coach Jon Mason said. “It was a total team effort. We just all came together. This was from 1 through 12 down the line.”
The Eagles tied the game 48-48 with 1:23 left in regulation after a layup plus a free throw from junior forward Myles Mayfield. With 29.8 seconds left to play Winter Park (2-1) senior Tyler Harrington was fouled and made one of his two free throws for a 49-48 lead.
Edgewater sophomore Donovan Williams was fouled under the basket and went to the line with 3.4 seconds left. He missed the first free throw, which was followed by a Winter Park timeout and multiple fans being ejected for not listening to the officials. Williams made the second to send the game to overtime.
Senior guard Fabian Taylor hit a pair of 3s from the corner to put Edgewater up by 6 and the Eagles made clutch free throws down the stretch.
Williams had 15 points, while Mayfield and Taylor each had 13 for Edgewater. Harrington scored 20 for Winter Park.
— Nate Marrero
Saturday games
Osceola vs. Mainland, 5
Winter Park vs. Seminole, 6:30
Championship
Dr. Phillips vs. Edgewater, 8
