High school basketball: Montverde Academy, Oak Hill Academy advance to City of Palms championship game

The City of Palms Classic semifinals lived up to the hype as three top 10 teams in the National Top 20 fought for a spot in Wednesday's championship game.

The first semifinal contest saw No. 9 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) upset No. 1 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) 76-72 in a back-and-forth affair with 17 lead changes and 12 ties.

IMG Academy (8-2) jumped out to an early 11-point lead midway through the first quarter on the back of a 12-0 run. Unfazed, the Warriors battled back to take a 35-34 at the half.

Oak Hill Academy (13-5) was locked in on both ends of the court, shooting 57.1 percent from the field, 47.1 percent from beyond the arc and connected on 12-of-13 free-throw attempts. They also turned the Ascenders over 15 times and held them to 49.1 percent shooting.

Kentucky signee Chris Livingston led the way with 22 points and seven rebounds in the win, while Judah Mintz chipped in 19 points, including a clutch layup in the final minute to stretch Oak Hill's lead to four.

The unsung hero for the Warriors, however, was sophomore guard Tybo Bailey, who calmly stepped to the free-throw line and knocked down a pair of clutch shots to extend the Warriors lead to two possessions with five seconds remaining.

Baylor signee Keyonte George had 24 points and nine rebounds in the loss, leading four Ascenders in double figures.

In the other semifinal, No. 3 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) overcame a slow start to defeat Milton (Ga.) 59-44.

After shooting 25 percent from the field in the first quarter and 33 percent from the field in the first half, Montverde (8-2) trailed 24-23 at the half before flipping the script and shooting 54 percent for the remainder of the contest.

 

Montverde outscored 5-3 Milton 36-20 in the second half and extended its lead to a game-high 16 points following a 12-0 fourth-quarter run.

Duke signee Dariq Whitehead led the way for Montverde Academy with 23 points and four rebounds. Jalen Hood-Schifino finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

After avenging an early season 87-75 loss to IMG Academy, Oak Hill Academy looks to for the same against Montverde Academy at 8:15 p.m. ET Wednesday in the City of Palms Classic championship game.