We headed back to “The Eagles’ Nest” at Montverde Academy to catch the final of the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament this past Saturday night. The host school survived a significant challenge in the semi-finals from The Rock School out of Gainesville, winning by a single point, 70-69. Their opponent in the title game tilt, Faith Family Academy out of De Soto, Texas, had little problem dispatching DME Academy out of Daytona Beach in their semi-final game, winning 91-60. Both Montverde and Faith Family compete in Nike’s EYBL Scholastic league but were not scheduled to play each other during the season.
FFA got on the board first with a bucket inside from 6’11 senior and Wake Forest signee Gavin Placide. Montverde responded with a putback from 6’2 senior and Kent State commit Dhani Miller. FFA used its size to its advantage as Placide again scored inside and a bit later 6’9 sophomore Xavier Young flushed one home to give FFA a 6-2 lead just over three minutes in. Joe Philon, a 6’8 senior, scored on a putback for Montverde and after a transition basket from Young of FFA, Philon scored on a mid-range jumper to make the score 8-6 in favor of FFA with just over three minutes to play in the period. A putback by 6’9 senior Gallagher Placide made it a four-point lead, but Montverde closed out the quarter with a 5-0 run as 5’9 junior Javion Tyndale hit a pair of free throws and Miller converted an “and one” drive to give Montverde an 11-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Eagles opened things up a bit to start the period. Delancy Oneal, a 6’3 junior, drained a three pointer then converted two free throws after being fouled on a drive to push Montverde’s advantage to 16-10. Tayshaun Williams, a 6’5 senior, got FFA on the board with a three-pointer, but that was answered by a three from 6’9 senior Nikos Koulisanis and a bucket in the lane from Miller. With just over four minutes to go in the quarter, Montverde led 21-13. FFA’s Maxwell Moody, a 6’2 sophomore, got them back on track with a driving score but after Miller scored in transition, FFA felt the need to call a timeout. Two free throws from FFA’s Gallagher Placide were offset by a Miller mid-range jumper. FFA got to within six after a pair of free throws from 6’3 sophomore Josiah Rose, but Delancey of Montverde drained a three just before the halftime horn to make the score 28-19 in favor of the host team.
Momentum shifted to open the third period. FFA cranked out an 8-0 run. It started with a three from Moody, then Rose scored in transition and Gallagher Placide added a transition bucket and free throw. With just over five minutes to play in the quarter, FFA was down only one at 30-29. Philon got Montverde back on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws but that was matched by two from Rose of FFA. Montverde got some momentum after 6’8 junior Derek Daniels jammed one home, but a Gallagher Placide mid-range “j” quieted them down. Montverde then put together four straight points to get their margin to 36-31 with under a minute to play in the period. Gallagher Placide put back a miss for FFA but the Eagles found Daniels inside just before the horn and he was fouled. He made both free throws to give Montverde a 38-33 lead with one quarter remaining in regulation.
A three-point play by Rose of FFA got them to within two, but a baseline drive and slam by Philon and a three from Tyndale pushed Montverde to a 43-36 advantage. Moody hit two of three free throws for FFA but Delancy of Montverde responded with three free throws on the Eagles’ end to make it an eight-point lead, 46-38. Montverde was able to keep that kind of separation for a while. With just under three minutes to play, Gavin Placide of FFA converted a three-point play to get his team to within four, 50-46. Delancy came up big for Montverde with a three to push that margin to seven. FFA wasn’t done. Rose hit a mid-range jumper and Gavin Placide thundered one home on the break to make the score 53-50 with thirty-eight seconds to play. Miller scored for Montverde with twelve seconds left to make it a two-possession game, but FFA quickly found Rose for a three with six seconds left to make the score 55-53. FFA quickly called timeout but the problem was they didn’t have one. Delancey drained the two technical foul shots and FFA immediately fouled Daniels on the inbounds pass. He made both with four seconds to play. FFA’s final attempt was off target, and the Eagles win a hard-fought contest by the score of 59-53.
Delancy paced Montverde Academy with 18 points. Miller finished with 14 and Philon added 12 points.
For FFA, both Rose and Gallagher Placide finished with 16 points.
All-Tournament Team
Dhani Miller, Montverde Academy (MVP)
Oneal Delancy, Montverde Academy
Javion Tyndale, Montverde Academy
Derek Daniels, Montverde Academy
Gavn Placide, Faith Family Academy
Yohane Kabango, DME Academy
Quincy Douby, Riviera Prep