The Cannon School out of Concord, North Carolina plays in that state’s independent league and features University of Miami recruit Austin Swartz. one of the leading scorers in the EYBL this past summer. Montverde Academy is the top ranked team in the country and any of its top six players could (and should) be McDonald’s All-Americans.
Montverde made a statement right away, opening the game with a 13-0 run. Asa Newell and Liam McNeeley each hit a three, Newell dunked in transition, Cooper Flagg drained a mid-range jumper, Curtis Givens scored on the break and Newell hit a free throw, all in just a little over three minutes of game time. Lincoln Vinson of Cannon School finally got the team on the board with a three. A bucket inside and a free throw from Derrick Queen of Montverde continued the Eagles’ rampage. Swartz got hot in the quarter, draining three triples, each seemingly farther out, to give some hope and life to Cannon School. With under a minute to play, Swartz hit another three to get the margin down to ten, 29-19. A Queen putback made the score 31-19 in favor of Montverde after one quarter of play.
The Eagles scored the first six points of the second quarter. Simply put, the Cannon School didn’t have the talent level to keep up with Montverde and at times looked awestruck. At the half, Montverde led by thirty, 63-33.
That lead grew in the third quarter as the Eagles looked to be flirting with the single game scoring record for the event. With one quarter left to play, Montverde led 94-53. That meant the Eagles would need to score thirty points to break the mark of 123 set by Little Rock Central back in 1998. If the starters had of stayed in, it might have happened. Fortunately for all involved, both teams put the substitutes in for the vast majority of the final quarter. Montverde still eclipsed the century mark, tallying 110 points, the fifth highest in tournament history, to win 110-57.
Montverde put six player in double-figures as Flagg led the way with 22 points, Queen added 19 points, Givens put up 13 points, Caleb Gaskins had 12 points, Newell finished with 11 points and McNeeley contributed 10 points.
For Cannon School, both Vinson and Jaylen Claggett each scored 13 points while Swartz finished with 12 points.