High school basketball: Cameron Boozer leads No. 5 Columbus past No. 2 Long Island Lutheran 81-62 at Spalding Hoophall Classic

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — MaxPreps Top 25 No. 5 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) blew past National Top 10 No. 2 Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) 81-62 Saturday afternoon at the Spalding Hoophall Classic. sparked by a 22-point swing in the fourth quarter.

Columbus was paced by strong efforts from five-star junior Cameron Boozer and four-star Michigan State signee Jase Richardson. Boozer finished with a game-high 26 points to go along with seven rebounds, five blocks and four assists. Richardson contributed 20 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals.

The Explorers led 24-19 lead at the end of the first quarter before Long Island Lutheran stormed back to take a 39-36 advantage into halftime and a 55-52 lead into the fourth period. The fourth quarter was all Columbus. The Explorers outscored the Crusaders 29-7 in the final eight minutes

The run began with a layup from Cameron Boozer with 7:47 remaining to cut the deficit to 55-54 before a dunk from top 20 sophomore Jaxon Richardson gave the Explorers a 56-55 lead.

Jase Richardson helped continue the barrage with a jumper and a dunk combined with a layup from senior guard Randy Smith to extend the lead to 62-55.

Columbus closed the door by scoring 14 consecutive points to stretch its lead to 76-58 with just under three minutes to go.

Three-star junior Kayden Mingo finished with a team-high 19 points for Long Island Lutheran in the loss.

Columbus (15-4) has another tough game at the event Monday as it takes on No. 1 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) at 1 p.m. ET.

Long Island Lutheran (11-2) is also in action in Springfield on Monday with a contest against National Top 10 No. 10 AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) at 3 p.m.