National Player of the Year candidate Dwayne Bacon didn't quite have his A game Friday but it was enough to help No. 1 Oak Hill Academy advance to the Dick's Nationals championship game.
Photo by Steven Ryan
After a pair of semifinal wins Friday at the Dick’s Sporting Goods High School Nationals, No. 1
Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) will meet No. 2
Montverde Academy (Fla.) Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
This is the way the high school basketball season should always end, right?
Top-ranked Oak Hill Academy did its part with a 61-51 win over No. 8
Huntington St. Joseph Prep (W.Va.), getting 17 points from MaxPreps National Player of the Year candidate
Dwayne Bacon.
The 6-foot-6 shooting guard was saddled with foul trouble and a bit off-kilter through much of the contest, but came up with several key buckets down the stretch. Ohio State-bound big man
Daniel Giddens contributed 13 points and nine boards for Oak Hill Academy (47-0) while burly 3-point shooter
Joe Hampton added 12.
The Warriors will seek their first national championship since 2012 on Saturday and ninth since 1993 under head coach Steve Smith. Oak Hill fell to Montverde in last year’s Dick’s Nationals title game, 71-62.
Junior wing
Miles Bridges scored 19 points and grabbed nine boards for Huntington St. Joseph Prep (31-3). Thomas Bryant, a 6-10 senior, added 12 and six for the Fighting Irish, who reached the semifinals of the event for the second year in a row.
Montverde Academy is aiming for its third consecutive Dick's Nationals crown after knocking off Findlay Prep on Friday.
Photo by Steven Ryan
No. 11 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) 53Montverde Academy survived in a game that will be best remembered for missed shots (combined 4 of 34 from beyond the arc), turnovers (27 by Findlay Prep alone) and a couple of untimely technical fouls in overtime.
Through it all, MaxPreps National Player of the Year candidate
Ben Simmons shined for the victorious Eagles with 24 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
Thanks in large part to the play of Simmons, Montverde Academy – which connected on just 2 of 22 3-point attempts – will play for its third-consecutive Dick's Nationals title Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
That looked to be in jeopardy late in overtime as Findlay Prep took the lead at 50-48 on a pair free throws following a technical foul. About to take possession with the lead, the Pilots were hit with a technical of their own.
Montverde Academy tied the game at the line, then took the lead for good on the ensuing possession.
Allonzo Trier handled much of the scoring for Findlay Prep, going for 27 points and eight rebounds in his final high school game.
