The Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament kicked off today. An eight-team format, four games are played each day. We were unable to stay for the final game of the day, Montverde Academy vs Northside Christian out of Clearwater, but the first three games were quite good with plenty of talent on each squad.
Game One: Orlando Dr. Phillips vs. TX Faith Family Academy
Dr. Phillips (DP) is a relatively young squad while Faith Family Academy (FFA) is in its first year as an EYBL Scholastic program. DP got on the board first with a bucket inside from 6’6 senior Malachi Baker. FFA got five quick points from Wake Forest commit Gavin Placide, a 6’10 senior, to grab a 5-2 lead. FFA would grow its lead to double-digits, 18-7, with just under a minute to play using its size advantage at both ends of the floor. A buzzer-beating mid-range jumper from DP’s 5’11 freshman Bryce Jackson made the score 18-9 going into the second quarter.
Josiah Gillard, a 6’0 sophomore, knocked down a three for DP to open the period. Four quick points by FFA pushed their lead back to double-digits, 22-12. At that point, DP got on a roll. A 13-5 run brought them to within two, 27-25, with one minute left in the half. This time it was FFA to hit a buzzer beater, a three from 6’1 junior Maurius Miles, to take a 30-25 lead into the halftime break.
A 10-0 run by FFA to start the third period pretty much broke the game open for them. Less than two minutes gone in the period and FFA now led 40-25. DP got a three from 6’6 sophomore Caleb Smith and a three-point play from Gillard to get to within 40-31, but five straight points from FFA pushed the margin back to double-figures. DP struggled to keep pace and with one period left to play, FFA was up comfortably, 57-39.
DP played valiantly in the fourth but were not able to really make a serious run. They got to within nine, 68-59, with fifty seconds left but it was too little, too late. FFA held on to win by ten, 69-59.
Placide led FFA with 19 points. Miles added 16 points and Gallagher Placide, a 6’10 senior and Wake Forest commit like his twin brother, finished with 13 points.
For Dr. Phillips, Gillard led the team with 15 points. Smith added 13, Baker finished with 12 and 6’3 senior Isaiah Gillard notched 11 points.
Game Two: Daytona Beach DME Academy vs. VA Bethel Academy
We were excited to see DME again after last weekend’s performance at the Iverson Classic. It actually isn’t “Bethel” but “Be The 1” Academy. It looked like it would be a blowout early as DME rolled out to a quick 7-0 lead with just over one minute played and led 14-6 with 3:35 left in the first period. Bethel finally got untracked, finishing the quarter with a 7-2 run to make it just a three-point game, 16-13.
Early in the second period, Bethel tied the game at 18-18. DME then hit a three but Bethel responded with a 7-0 run to go up 25-21 with 5:23 remaining. A DME free throw interrupted that run but Bethel hit back-to-back threes before DME put back a miss to take a 31-24 lead. After a DME free throw, a Bethel score gave them their largest lead of the game at 33-25 with 1:17 remaining in the quarter. DME got five straight points from 6’7 sophomore Kamajay Jenkins to close out the quarter down just three, 33-30.
DME got things turned around in the third quarter. With 4:46 to play, they retook the lead on a pair of free throws from 6’9 junior Yohane Kabongo. Bethel would keep pace and with 2:33 left in the quarter, knocking down a three to get within 46-44. DME then finished the third with an 8-2 run to lead 54-46 with one period left to play.
DME scored first in the fourth to lead by ten but then five straight free throws from Bethel cut that lead in half. That is as close as Bethel would get. R.J. Hampton, a 6’7 junior, donned his super-hero outfit, scoring seven points in the period to keep Bethel at bay. DME led by as much as 70-59 before Bethel closed out the game with four unanswered points to make the final score 70-63 in favor of DME.
Hampton led DME with 19 points. Kabongo finished with 14, Jenkins tallied 11 points, and 6’5 senior Chris Kitenge added 10 points.
For Bethel, 5’11 senior Devin Toatley led all scorers with 21 points. Kye Gray, a 6’1 junior, added 16 points and Dhruv Iyer, a 6’1 junior tossed in 13 points.
Game Three: Gainesville The Rock School vs. Miami Riviera Prep
Riviera Prep has played one of the toughest schedules in the state. It didn’t help that they came in missing two starters as 6’1 senior Randy Livingston was lost for the season due to a shoulder injury about a month ago and 6’1 junior Myles Fuentes was out with an ankle issue. So it was a bit of a surprise when Riviera Prep got out to a 6-0 lead just over a minute into the game and led 13-4 with exactly three minutes remaining in the first. At the point, The Rock came alive, closing out the period with a furious 12-3 run to tie the game at 16-16 heading into the second quarter.
The Rock continued their roll in the second, going on a 9-2 run in two minutes to lead 25-18 and force a Riviera Prep timeout. That seemed to help as the Bulldogs scored five unanswered to get to within 25-23 with 4:15 to go. Both teams then went dry for a while until Jacob Pleyer, a 6’3 senior, scored five straight points to give them a 30-23 advantage. Riviera Prep hit a free throw to make the score at the half 30-24 in favor of The Rock.
The Rock led by as many as nine in the third and the score was 45-36 in their favor with just under three minutes remaining in the quarter. Mason Fuentes, a 6’2 senior and Stetson commit, then scored two straight baskets to make it a 45-40 game. At that point The Rock took control, closing the quarter with an 8-0 run to push their margin to thirteen, 53-40.
The final quarter saw Riviera Prep make a furious run to make a game of it. The Rock’s largest lead was 61-45 with just under seven minutes to play. With just over four minutes to play, Riviera Prep had sliced the deficit to ten, 66-56. With ten seconds remaining, The Rock hit two free throws to make the score 82-75. Riviera Prep wasn’t done, draining back-to-back threes to draw to within four, 82-78. However, the last one was with five seconds left and The Rock didn’t both to inbound the ball.
The Rock was paced by 6’1 freshman Ziare Colbert with 22 points. Pleyer added 16 points, 6’5 senior DeAndre Harvey added 14 points and 6’5 senior Cordarius White finished with 11 points.
For Riviera Prep, 6’5 junior Quincy Douby had a game high 32 points. Fuentes and 6’7 junior J.J. Watts each scored 14 points and 6’8 sophomore Laron Mack added 12 points.