This is about as “blue blood” of a matchup as you can find at the sub-collegiate level of basketball. The Eagles of Montverde Academy have been dominant so far this season, winning games by an average of 30+ points per game. The Eagles have one game under their belt in the EYBL Scholastic while this will be IMG’s first league game of the season. Both teams have a roster full of high level talent. For Montverde, the focus will be on 6’9 senior and Duke commit Cooper Flagg while the Ascenders of IMG will most likely be spearheaded by 6’8 senior and Michigan commit Khani Rooths.
Montverde scored right away with an inside bucket from Derik Queen. IMG responded with a long two from Donovan Freeman and a bucket inside by Amari Allen to give the Ascenders a 4-2 lead. A three-point play by Flagg and a putback from Asa Newell put the Eagles on top 7-4. Another inside basket by Freeman of IMG and a dunk inside by Newell made the score 9-6 in favor of Montverde by the time the media timeout rolled around. IMG then scored six unanswered as Chase McCarty hit a three to tie the game, Freeman scored inside and Allen hit one of two free throws to give IMG a 12-9 lead with 2:14 left in the first. Newell once again got loose for a dunk inside for Montverde but that was answered by a Dairus Acuff score on a drive. Montverde closed out the opening period with 5-2 run, highlighted by a three-point play from Robert Wright, to tie the game at 16-16.
The teams exchanged baskets early in the second period. With the score tied 20-20, Montverde spurted ahead with a 6-0 run as Queen scored twice inside and Newell had another dunk. IMG cut the margin in half with a three from Felipe Quinones, but Montverde pushed the advantage to eight, 32-24, by the time the media timeout came. IMG kept that eightpoint deficit until with just under one minute to play, Montverde got two free throws from Newell and a transition basket from Curtis Givens just before the halftime horn to make the score 42-30.
The Eagles came out of the break and put up an 8-0 run to start the third as Flagg dunked in transition, Queen converted a three-point play and Givens knocked down a three in transition. In just under three minutes, Montverde had extended its lead to twenty, 50-30. Allen finally broke the drought with a pair of free throws for IMG but Montverde continued their roll. With just under forty seconds to play in the third, IMG had the margin down to eighteen at 56-38. Montverde ended the quarter with a 7-0 run as Queen put back a miss, Flagg notched a pair of free throws and Liam McNeeley got his first points of the game on a three-point play to make the score 63-38 with one quarter remaining.
To IMG’s credit, they didn’t quit. While they weren’t going to win, they still worked hard at both ends of the floor to whittle the lead down. The Ascenders got the deficit below twenty with under three minutes remaining. Ultimately, Montverde won by the score of 86-69.
Montverde was led by Queen’s double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds. Newell added 18 points while Flagg finished with 13 points, McNeeley contributed 12 points and Wright finished with 11 points.
For IMG, Donovan paced the team with 20 points while both Allen and Acuff each added 12 points.