Montverde Academy enters tournament as heavy favorite.
The No. 1 ranking in the National Top 10 will be locked up this weekend at Chipotle Nationals. The top six teams are joined by the top two teams in the MaxPreps Top 25 beginning Thursday in Brownsburg, Ind.
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) enters as a heavy favorite to capture its seventh championship behind one of its most talented rosters. The Eagles outscored opponents by an average of 31.2 points per contest this season and own a 17-0 record against nationally-ranked teams.
Notably, each first-round matchup at Chipotle Nationals is a rematch of games played earlier in the season. Montverde Academy knocked off
AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) 58-46 in December,
Columbus (Miami, Fla.) defeated
Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) 81-62 in January,
Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) escaped with a 77-76 win over
Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) in December and
Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) slipped past
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) 71-70 in December.
The eight-team, single-elimination tournament takes place at Brownsburg High School through Saturday with all games streaming on ESPN's family of networks.
Here is Thursday's schedule (all times eastern):
2 p.m. – IMG Academy vs. Paul VI
4 p.m. – Long Island Lutheran vs. Columbus
6 p.m. – Prolific Prep vs. Link Academy
8 p.m. – Montverde Academy vs. AZ Compass Prep
The final National Top 10 rankings will be released on April 9.
Top-ranked Duke signee Cooper Flagg hopes to guide Montverde Academy to the Chipotle Nationals title this week. (Photo: Lonnie Webb)
Record: 31-0 | Last week: 1
Record: 21-4 | Last week: 2
Record: 33-5 | Last week: 3
Record: 25-6 | Last week: 4
Record: 20-8 | Last week: 5
Record: 27-5 | Last week: 10
Record: 27-7 | Last week: 6
Season complete.
Record: 25-6 | Last week: 7
Season complete.
Record: 23-5 | Last week: 9
Season complete.
Record: 17-7 | Last week: 8
Season complete.
