No. 2 Mater Dei successfully defended its title at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas.
Photo by Jann Hendry
It didn't come easy, but the Eagles repeated at the prestigious City of Palms Classic on Monday night with a 58-53 win over No. 3 Paul VI. Montverde's path to the final included wins over Milton (Ga.), No. 9 Lincoln and No. 22 Providence.
2. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 10-0The Monarchs needed overtime to beat Ivan Rabb and No. 13 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) in the final of the Tarkanian Classic but won their first nine outings by an average of 33 points per game.
Stanley Johnson gets all the pub for Mater Dei, but
Rex Pflueger,
M.J. Cage,
La'vette Parker and
Isaiah Juarez were big factors in Las Vegas as well.
3. (4) Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), 8-1The Panthers had an impressive week in Fort Myers. Even the 58-53 loss in the championship game to No. 1 Montverde Academy has to be taken favorably after the game was delayed and moved to another venue after issues with a slick floor. Paul VI notched wins over Norland (Miami, Fla.), Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) and Whitney Young (Chicago) to reach the City of Palms final.
4. (15) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), 19-1Oak Hill's early loss to Quality Education Academy (Winston-Salem) is looking like a bit of a fluke at this point. The Warriors have won 17 in a row since and captured one of two tournament crowns at the Chick-fil-A Classic in South Carolina on Monday night. OHA knocked off Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.), Keenan (Columbia, S.C.) and No. 16 Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa.) at Chick-fil-A.
5. (7) White Station (Memphis, Tenn.), 10-0The Spartans went to Hawaii for the Iolani Classic as the favorite to win and held serve, crushing Westchester (Los Angeles) in the final 65-41. White Station will join No. 1 Montverde Academy and No. 3 Paul VI at the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in mid-January.
