The Hawaiian vacation
La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.) took before Christmas will forever be a memorable holiday for every player on the team.
The Lakers won four games against highly-ranked opponents in Honolulu to capture the championship trophy, including a victory over previous MaxPreps No. 1
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) in the semifinals.
La Lumiere sealed the sweep with a convincing 72-58 win over
Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) on the final day of the event.
Under the normal tournament format, La Lumiere would had played
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) for the championship but a CIF rule prevented that matchup from happening.
Instead, Montverde played Sierra Canyon and won 57-49. Montverde and Sierra Canyon each finished the tourney with a 3-1 record.
The fourth and final win for La Lumiere was never doubt from the opening tip as the Lakers controlled every aspect of the game from dominating defense, rebounding and fundamentally-sound shooting.
Isaiah Stewart, named the most valuable player of the tournament, recorded 25 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.
"I love playing in these types of tournaments," the 6-foot-9 big man said. "I especially love the challenge of competing against the best competition."
Teammate
Keion Brooks continued to improve his stock in the eyes of college coaches with his defense and outside shooting. The 6-8 forward scored 17 points and was named to the all-tourney team.
Also named to the all-tourney team were guard
Wendell Green Jr. and forward
Gerald Drumgoole.
La Lumiere coach Patrick Holmes commented "It all started with the first day of the end of last season. The players had a vision and stuck with it," La Lumiere head coach Patrick Holmes said. "Over the past months, the players put in a lot of hard work and were truly looking forward to coming to Hawaii. We stayed focused and under control. We limited our turnovers and finished each game strong."
Freelance writer Edwin Jackson contributed this report.
