The Nike EBYL Scholastic League returns to Montverde Florida for the 2024 version of the Sunshine Classic. Ther first game featured Brewster Academy taking on Long Island Lutheran. Both teams are stocked with D-I talent.
It was a bit of a slow start for both teams as each came up empty on their respective first two possessions. Brewster finally broke the ice with a pair of free throws from 6’3 junior Darien Moore. Long Island Lutheran (LuHi) responded with a drive from 63 senior Kayden Mingo. At that point Brewster went on an 11-2 run to open up the game as 64 senior Kilyan Toure scored on a drive, 6’7 junior Sebastian Wilkins scored inside, 6’8 senior Preston Fowler converted a three-point play, Toure connected on two free throws and after 62 senior Ebuka Okorie converted a steal and score, Brewster was up 13-4 with 2:11 to play in the quarter, forcing a LuHi timeout. A free throw from 7’1 senior Nico Onyekere and two more from 6’5 junior Dylan Mingo got LuHi back to within six at 13-7, but Brewster closed out the quarter with four straight points from Okorie to finish out the period up by ten, 17-7.
After another Brewster basket to open up the second period, LuHi got into an offensive groove. Five straight points, highlighted by a transition dunk from 6’9 junior M.J. Madison, got them to within seven, 19-12. Brewster answered quickly with three points of their own to get the margin back to double-digits. The teams would trade baskets for much of the period until with 1:01 to play, LuHi hit a free throw to cut the margin to eight a 28-20. That is as close as they would get as a floater rom Okorie and a three from 6’1 sophomore Antonio Pemberton, the only three for either team in the half, put Brewster up 33-20 at the half.
Brewster extended their lead to sixteen, 36-20, less than a minute into the third quarter. LuHi got a three from 6’0 senior Nigel James and a transition basket from Kayden Mingo to get back to within eleven. At that point, Brewster hit a pair of free throws and scored on a drive to make the margin fifteen, 40-25, with just under four minutes to play in the period, forcing a LuHi timeout. The stoppage in play helped as LuHi went on a 7-0 run as James hit a pair of baskets in transition and Dylan Mingo converted a three-point play to make the score 42-32 with 1:20 left in the third. Unfortunately, that would be the end of the scoring for LuHi as Brewster got a pair of driving scores from Moore and Fowler to make it 46-32 in favor of Brewster going into the final quarter.
The closest LuHi would get in the final period would by 49-39 after a three-point play from James with just over five minutes to play. Brewster then put together a 13-4 over the next three minutes to push their margin to nineteen, 61-43. With just over two minutes to play, there simply was not enough time for a LuHi comeback. Brewster won convincingly, 67-50.
Okorie led Brewster with 19 points. Fowler added 13 points and Pemberton finished with 10 points.
For LuHi, Dylan Mingo had 14 points, James had 14 points and Kayden Mingo had 10 points.