Another loaded weekend of postseason high school basketball action was headlined by four showdowns between ranked opponents.
No. 1 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) defeated No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)
61-57 on Friday night to
capture the inaugural NIBC championship. The win secures the top seed in
the upcoming GEICO Nationals for the Eagles and gives them a 2-1 edge
over the Buffaloes in the
season series.
Montverde Academy went on a decisive 10-1 run sparked by a personal 6-0 run from five-star junior
Dariq Whitehead.
That extended the lead to 61-52 with under two minutes remaining.
Whitehead finished with a team-high 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and six steals.
In Nebraska, the Class A state semifinal matchup between No. 16 Bellevue West (Bellevue, Neb.) and No. 23 Creighton Prep (Omaha, Neb.) took three overtimes to decide as the Thunderbirds escaped with a 95-94 victory. The 189 combined points was the highest scoring game in Nebraska state tournament history, surpassing the old record of 186 combined points set in 1999.
Bellevue West ultimately ran out of gas in Saturday's state championship game, losing to No. 24 Millard North 84-78 in the overtime thriller. The state championship marks the first in program history for the Mustangs.
The Chipotle Clash of Champions kicked off Saturday afternoon action with an upset as Evanston (Ill.) upended No. 20 Simeon (Chicago) 56-47 to hand the Wolverines their first loss of the season. Sophomore Prince Adams scored a game-high 16 points off the bench for the Wildkits.
No. 6 Duncanville defended their Class 6A state title with a
66-53 victory over No. 19 Westlake (Austin) behind a game-high 27 points
from SMU signee
Zhuric Phelps. Duncanville is now 5-0 in state championship games in program history.
The other Saturday headliner saw No. 7
Milton capture their first state title since 2012, defeating Berkmar
(Lilburn) 52-47 in the Class AAAAAAA title game. The Eagles were paced
by
Kanaan Carlyle who finished with a game-high 15 points, while
Bruce Thornton had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists and
Lebbeus Overton chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Indiana state playoffs tipped off Saturday afternoon, with defending state champion Carmel upsetting No. 14 Homestead (Fort Wayne) 60-49 in the first round showdown.
