High school basketball: Boozer Brothers combine for 44 points to guide No. 10 Columbus over No. 7 Wheeler 73-70

In one of the most highly-anticipated showdowns of the early season in high school basketball, No. 10 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) defeated No. 7 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) 73-70 Saturday night paced by 44 points from the Boozer Brothers.

Cameron and Cayden Boozer combined for over half their team's points in the win, despite Cameron dealing with foul trouble early in the contest after picking up a second foul in the first quarter.

Wheeler led 17-16 after the first quarter and took a 37-32 advantage into halftime after closing the first half on a 9-2 run. But the Explorers were able to battle back in the third quarter to take a 56-51 lead sparked by 14 points from top-ranked sophomore Cameron Boozer in the period.

High-major seniors Isaiah Collier, Jelani Hamilton and Arrinten Page combined for 57 of the Wheeler's 70 points in the loss.

Columbus (5-1) takes on Palmetto (Miami, Fla.) on Wednesday before opening up City of Palms Classic play in the quarterfinal round on Dec. 19 after a first round bye.

Wheeler (4-1) plays next at the City of Palms Classic. where it has a first round showdown against Tampa Catholic (Tampa, Fla.) on Friday.

Both teams also compete in the Chick-fil-A Classic from Dec. 26-30, giving the top 10 opponents an opportunity to potentially face off two additional times this season.