Austin Rivers, Winter Park
File photo by Jim Redman
Austin Rivers got back to old form with a 45-point game that reminded the City of Palms Classic crowd of what they saw from him last year when he scored 46 against Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.).
After games of 21 and 22 points on Saturday and Monday, respectively, Rivers led Winter Park (Fla.) to a 75-60 semifinal win over St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.), setting up Wednesday's championship game against Paterson Catholic (Paterson, N.J.).
The Cougars won a wild overtime contest against Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), 63-51.
On two occasions late in regulation, the Florida school looked to have a trip to the finals in hand. Papa Samba Ndao (Boston College signee) sank a three-pointer from the right corner with five seconds left to put Montverde Academy up one, 42-41.
On a long outlet inbound pass, Fuquan Edwin (Seton Hall signee) scored at the rim and drew contact from Haukur Paulsson, sending him to the line for a free throw and the score back in Paterson Catholic’s favor, 43-42.
Edwin missed the free throw and Montverde called a timeout immediately. After an inbound and advancement of the ball to halfcourt, Montverde called another timeout to set up a last-second play.
Paulsson got the final shot and was fouled on a three-point attempt with .1 seconds left, stunning Paterson Catholic and the entire gym.
At the line, Paulsson missed the first, made the second and hit every part of the rim and backboard as the third finally dropped in, giving Montverde a 47-46 edge and essentially the victory.
But a Montverde Academy player came flying off the bench to celebrate and onto the court as Paterson Catholic was set to inbound the ball. A technical was called.
Junior point guard Myles Mack stepped to the free throw line and knocked down the second after a miss, tying the game at 47 and sending it to overtime in a wild turn of events.
In the four-minute extra session, Mack started things off with a three-pointer. Fellow junior Derrick Randall blocked a shot on the defensive end and senior captain Jayon James would drive the paint for an assist to Edwin inside.
Mack finished with 21 points, Edwin scored 17 and Randall notched eight points and 12 rebounds in what finished as a 63-51 final following a 16-4 overtime advantage.
“On that last play for us in the fourth quarter, I went to the rim and said nobody’s stopping me,” Edwin said. “God stuck with us and gave us some extra opportunities.”
Jamail Jones (Marquette signee) had 14 points and James Bell (Villanova signee) had 13 for Montverde in the loss.
But even after the madness, it was Rivers who was the star of stars on this night.
For the third straight game, the junior scoring guard drew tough coverage, this time in the form of quick point guard Myck Kabongo (15 points, Texas commitment) and physical swingman Aaron Brown (11 points, Temple signee).
“It makes you play harder,” Rivers said. “I enjoyed playing all of those guys and that’s what you want when you come to play in events that have top teams like this.”
Rivers’ fingers were anything but jaded tonight – he had them taped Saturday after a razor cut while shaving – as he had 26 points by halftime.
A personal Rivers run gave Winter Park a 15-6 lead and a three-pointer off an isolation in front of the St. Benedict's bench forced the Gray Bees into a timeout down 26-12 in the second quarter.
Kabongo hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 47-38 with 3:08 in the third quarter.
The Gray Bees turned the pressure up as Mike Poole (11 points) scored five points off of turnovers and brought them even closer, 57-52.
Rivers recognized the run and put an end to this one, answering with his own by scoring a three-pointer off a fade cut, a floater in the lane and a pair of drives to the rim with finishes off his wrong foot that he’s become accustomed to.
Fort Myers (Fla.) 54, Sagemont (Weston, Fla.) 51
In an all-Florida match-up that came about through bracket play, hometown Fort Myers held off Sagemont’s late rally as both teams traded baskets much of the way.
Sagemont’s center Fab Melo sat the third period with three fouls while Vinny Delucia’s three-pointer with 1:20 remaining finally gave Sagemont the lead, 43-41, after what was a long time spent trailing by only a few points.
A Melo block started the fourth quarter on the right track for Sagemont but Fort Myers’ Nick Calamaro scored out of a timeout on a drive to the bucket to retake the lead, 49-48.
Fort Myers amped up the defensive pressure and forced Sagemont into calling two timeouts with a little more than two minutes remaining and holding to the lead.
On the next inbounds, the Fort Myers defense would create some havoc and draw an offensive foul before Sagemont could even get the ball in play, giving them possession.
Calamaro would score and Buddy McClendon connected on one of two free throws to push Fort Myers ahead, 52-49. Sagemont’s Will Sheehey missed a shot along the baseline but would come back the next trip and connect on a backdoor feed, cutting the gap to one.
Fort Myers would play keep away the final 30 seconds and knock down its free throws, also getting a jump ball to go its way with the arrow in their favor to seal the win.
Buddy McClendon had the team high 11 points for Fort Myers.
Will Sheehey scored 16 to lead Sagemont in the loss.
Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) 78, De La Salle (Chicago, Ill.) 47
Marko Petrovic hit a pair of three-pointers with two minutes remaining in the third quarter to stretch Findlay’s lead to its largest of the game (30 points).
Five scored in double figures led by Tristan Thompson’s 18 points and 10 rebounds. Petrovic finished with 15 points on 5 of 6 three-pointers and Cory Joseph scored 13 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Leading De La Salle were Mike Shaw and freshman Alex Foster with 12 points a piece.
Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.) 64, Penn Wood (Lansdowne, Pa.) 62
Four scored in double figures for winning Westchester, who fought off a 26-point fourth quarter from Penn Wood.
Kareem Jamar had 17 points, Jordin Mayes scored 16, Reggie Murphy went for 11 and Dwayne Polee added 10 for the Comets. Jamar and Penn Wood’s Will Brown dueled from three-point range with Jamar hitting 5 of 9 and Brown 4 of 6.
Brown led Penn Wood with 18 points with Aaron Brown adding 16.
