High School Basketball: No. 12 Prolific Prep, Oak Hill Academy advance to GEICO Nationals quarterfinals

By Jordan Divens Mar 31, 2021, 6:45pm

Five-star prospects Nathan Bittle and Caleb Foster shine for the Crew, Warriors.

A pair of GEICO Nationals play-in games went down to the wire on Wednesday night as No. 12 Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) and Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) each advanced to Thursday's quarterfinal action.

In the opener, Prolific Prep escaped with a 45-43 victory over La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) despite an 11-1 Lakers' run to close the game. Stefan Todorovic split a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining before La Lumiere sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. grabbed the rebound and drove the length of the court only to miss an off balance mid-range jumper from the left wing as time expired.

Five-star Oregon signee Nathan Bittle led the way for the Crew with eight points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in the win. Chisom Okpara scored a game-high 15 points in the loss for La Lumiere (7-10).

Prolific Prep (31-3) faces No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) (19-3) in tomorrow's 2 p.m. (ET) quarterfinal.

In a thrilling nightcap, Oak Hill Academy outlasted No. 15 Pace Academy (Atlanta, Ga.) 84-77 to snap the Knights' 28-game win streak.



The Warriors were paced by an outstanding performances from five-star sophomore Caleb Foster, who finished with 23 points, seven assists and three rebounds and three-star senior Camryn Carter who approached a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Oak Hill shot 57 percent from the field.

Florida State signee Matthew Cleveland led Pace Academy (28-2) with a game-high 30 points and eight rebounds.

Oak Hill Academy (20-8) draws top-ranked Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) (21-1) in their 4 p.m. (ET) quarterfinal. The Eagles beat the Warriors twice this season by a combined 55 points.
Jalen Reed and Oak Hill Academy advanced to the next round in the GEICO Nationals with their 84-77 win over Pace Academy on Wednesday.
Jalen Reed and Oak Hill Academy advanced to the next round in the GEICO Nationals with their 84-77 win over Pace Academy on Wednesday.
File photo by Annette Wilkerson