High school basketball: Columbus defeats Montverde Academy 59-57 to capture City of Palms Classic title in wire-to-wire win

FORT MYERS, Fla. — MaxPreps Top 25 No. 1 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) escaped with a 59-57 victory over National Top 10 No. 3 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) in a thrilling City of Palms Classic championship game that came down to the end despite the Explorers leading wire-to-wire.

Montverde Academy never led but made a seven-point Columbus lead evaporate to one point in 20 seconds of game action in the final minute.

Despite leading from the opening tip until the final whistle, Columbus was sloppy at times in the title game as it turned the ball over 15 times, including a number of crucial turnovers down the stretch to keep the Eagles alive.

After winning the opening tip, a dunk from top 40 junior Jaxon Richardson set the stage for Columbus early as the Explorers jumped to a 9-3 lead before extending the advantage to 19-12 at the end of the first quarter. Montverde Academy was held scoreless for the first four minutes of second quarter and fell behind by as many as 15 before responding with an 11-6 run to close out the half and make the score 33-23 at intermission.

A 6-0 spurt from Montverde Academy mid-way through the third period cut the lead to 41-39 after a basket from Gabe Weis with just over one minute to go in the quarter.

After the teams traded baskets, a defensive stand on the last possession of the stanza led to a breakaway dunk from Richardson as time expired in the period to make things 46-42 headed into the final quarter of play.

Five-star Duke signee Cameron Boozer scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, converting an and-one layup through a double team to extend the advantage to 49-42 before. Boozer then converted on one of two free throw attempts to extend the lead to eight with under six minutes to play.

After being held scoreless for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, Montverde Academy got on the board with a tough running layup off the glass from five-star sophomore King Gibson to cut the deficit to six.

After sloppy possessions from both teams led to turnovers, five-star junior Caleb Gaskins followed up a miss to get the lead back to eight. Gibson continued his strong play by converting an and-one on the other end to make things 52-45.

Following defensive stands for both teams, Gibson cut the deficit to 52-47 after finishing a layup through contact with approximately three minutes to play.

After a pair of free throws from Richardson extended the Explorers' advantage to 56-49 with 37.1 seconds remaining, chaos ensued as the Eagles promptly went on a 6-0 run sparked by a 3-pointer and an and-one from Hudson Greer to cut the margin to 56-55 with 19.4 seconds left.

After Gaskins split a pair of free throws, Montverde turned it over on the other end. Boozer subsequently knocked down a pair of free throws with under 10 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

A Dante Allen basket at the buzzer cut the deficit to one possession as time ran out.

Richardson finished with a team-high 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting in the win. Boozer chipped in 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists while Caleb Gaskins had 13 points and nine rebounds.

Columbus (12-1) returns to the court after Christmas for three games at the Jordan Brand Holiday Classic, facing Bullis (Potomac, Md.) on Friday, Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) on Saturday and Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) on Sunday.

Montverde Academy (8-2) will take a break from action before returning to the court after the New Year. A tough stretch of games includes Legacy Early College (Greenville, S.C.) and Bella Vista Prep (Scottsdale, Ariz.) at the La Porte Invitational  then Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah) and AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.