AZ Compass Prep, CIA-Bella Vista, Dynamic Prep and Montverde Academy punch tickets to Chipotle Nationals semifinals

The Chipotle Nationals semifinals are set as CIA-Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.) faces Dynamic Prep (Irving, Texas) and Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) battles AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) tomorrow at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Indianapolis.

The first game of the day saw a thrilling finish as Montverde Academy escaped with a 57-55 victory over Prolific Prep (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) on a buzzer-beating dunk from four-star junior Derek Daniels.

The final sequence of the contest saw Kent State signee Dhani Miller come away with a steal with approximately five seconds remaining before passing ahead to his a wide open Daniels, who threw home the dunk just before the clock went to all zeroes. However, the final play caused controversy as the officials appeared to miss a clear walk in the lead-up to the dunk.

Miller led all scorers with 27 points on 10 of 15 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Daniels chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds for Montverde Academy (22-6) in the victory. Five-star Arizona signee Caleb Holt finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for Prolific Prep (38-4) in the loss.

In the nightcap, Dynamic Prep outlasted Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) 81-76 behind a combined 55 points from top 10 junior Marcus Spears Jr. and Texas Tech signee Dakari Spear.

Dynamic Prep went ahead 77-76 on a basket from Oregon signee Seven Spurlock with one minute remaining before Spears converted all four of his free throws in the closing seconds.

Spears finished with a game-high 29 points along with eight rebounds in the win while Spear scored 26. Four-star junior Davion Thompson had a team-high 26 points in the loss for Link Academy (24-5).

CIA-Bella Vista (24-4) continued the momentum from its Nike EYBL Scholastic tournament championship run, knocking off Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) 79-67 behind 26 points, six assists and four steals from West Virginia signee Miles Sadler.

Sadler connected on 8 of 11 shots from the field and 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range. Five-star junior Paul Osaruyi also had a strong game with 21 points and eight rebounds in the win.

Despite the loss, five-star Arkansas signee Jordan Smith was the high scorer on the day as he finished two points shy of the all-time event record with 35 points on 11 of 24 from the field for Paul VI (33-3).