City of Palms Day Two: Montverde Academy rolls

By Staff Report Dec 19, 2013, 12:00am

Nation's No. 1 team remains unbeaten.

Ben Simmons posted a huge double-double to help Montverde Academy advance in the City of Palms Classic.
Ben Simmons posted a huge double-double to help Montverde Academy advance in the City of Palms Classic.
Photo by Jim Redman
No Dakari Johnson? No Devin Williams? No problem, at least if you have Ben Simmons on your roster.

The Australian import continues to impress at Montverde Academy (Fla.), making up for the loss of Johnson (Kentucky) and Williams (West Virginia), and helping the nation's No. 1-ranked team to an impressive 77-42 victory over Milton (Ga.) on the second day of action in the City of Palms Classic.

Simmons scored 31 points on 14 of 18 shooting. The 6-foot-9 junior, who is committed to LSU, scored 20 of his 31 points in the first half to help Montverde pull away.

With the victory, Montverde advances to face the Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.), which defeated Greenforest (Decatur, Ga.), 80-67.

Lincoln, which is on the bubble of the Xcellent 25, is led by Seton Hall-bound guard Isaiah Whitehead. Greenforest is the defending Class A private school champion in Georgia.



In other games during Day 2, Denver East (Denver, Colo.) defeated Bishop Verot (Fort Myers, Fla.), 62-42 behind 20 points by Dominique Collier; Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) topped Norland (Miami, Fla.) 81-53; American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) edged Wekiva (Apopka, Fla.) 53-46; Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) knocked off Yates (Houston, Texas) 84-65 and Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.) defeated Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) 62-51.