FORT MYERS, Fla. – There was a sense Monday night that the overflow crowd at the State Farm City of Palms Classic expected something special when two of Florida's top teams, Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and No. 22 Winter Park (Fla.), met in quarterfinal action.
As has so often been the case the last two years at the prestigious event, Winter Park senior sensation and two-time reigning tournament MVP Austin Rivers didn't disappoint his devoted fans at Bishop Verot High School.
Austin Rivers had his third 40-point game at the City of Palms Classic on Monday night.
Photo by Stuart Browning
Rivers exploded for 42 points to push his Wildcats past Dwyer, 76-64, and into Tuesday's semifinals against No. 23 Milton – a rematch of a 2009 quarterfinal game won by Winter Park.
The future Duke Blue Devil drilled five first-half 3-pointers and connected on 16 of 25 field goal attempts on the night, his third 40-point performance in 10 career games at the City of Palms Classic.
And it all came in front of a special fan – father and Boston Celtics head coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers.
"He just continues to amaze me and everybody else in the stands," Winter Park head coach David Bailey said. "He carried us on his back in the first half and then everybody else stepped up and helped him out in the second half."
"If I get one, it usually starts coming after that," Rivers said. "My teammates just kept telling me 'Keep shooting until you miss.' I was like 'Alright.'"
The Wildcats desperately needed the production as Dwyer jumped on them 6-0 and led 19-15 after one quarter. Much of that came with its own star, 6-foot-4, 225-pound guard
Jacoby Brissett, on the bench as he continues to make the transition from football to basketball. Brissett still managed to pile up 21 points and 15 rebounds.
"They are a well-coached, great team with a lot of talent," Bailey said of Dwyer. "We were able to get them in foul trouble and it took them out of rhythm a little bit."
Foul trouble was a huge factor for Dwyer as Brissett and 6-6 forward
Gregory Louis (19 points, nine rebounds) were both disqualified.
Joell James, a monster 6-10, 280-pound post player, finished with four fouls and was in jeopardy throughout the game.
Neither team led by more than six points until the 2:11 mark of the third quarter when Rivers hit fellow senior guard
Brett Comer (12 points, five rebounds, five assists) on the fly for an easy lay-up to make it 51-44. Comer scored again 30 seconds later, then followed with a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 11.
Winter Park was able to stave off the Panthers from there, setting up a showdown between two of MaxPreps.com's preseason top seven teams.
Rivers has already surpassed Lance Stephenson of
Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) as the Classic's third all-time leading scorer with 305 points. Kenny Boynton, who appeared in the event with both
Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and
American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), is the leader with 406 followed by Teddy Dupay of
Mariner (Cape Coral, Fla.) with 380. He would need to average 51 points per game over his final two COP appearances to break Boynton's mark.
"I don't think I could do that," Rivers said.
Quarterfinal: Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 59, Christ School (Arden, N.C.) 54
Only Mater Dei.
The Monarchs lost three seniors to Pac-10 programs following the 2009-10 season yet find themselves in the semifinals of the nation's most competitive tournament after a late-evening win over Christ School.
"I never thought we would be in the semifinals of this tournament," Mater Dei head coach Gary McKnight said. "ESPN asked us to send in all this stuff for the semifinals and finals, I said, 'Don't even send it, we're wasting our time.' We had three freshman score today in this game. It's a real young team and I'm real proud of the way they competed."
The Monarchs got a big lift from junior guard Katin Reinhardt for the second day in a row, leading the team in scoring with 17 points.
"He's exceptional," McKnight said. "In the first half I thought he was getting out of his game a little. You watch Austin Rivers tonight and then all of the sudden everybody thinks they are Austin Rivers. In the second half he played super."
The game was knotted up at the end of the first quarter and half. Senior point guard David Brown hit a pair of free throws inside of a minute to play to give Mater Dei a two-point lead that forced Christ School to look for quick shots and foul.
The Monarchs will meet St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) on Tuesday, the same program they beat for the tournament title in 2008.
Quarterfinal: No. 23 Milton (Ga.) 58, Norfolk Christian (Norfolk, Va.) 49
Milton's balance, experience and resiliency were on full display as it advanced to the semifinals with a win over Norfolk Christian.
Shannon Scott's 13 points led a balanced Milton effort Monday against Norfolk Christian.
File photo by Jim Redman
Four of the Eagles' five starters hit double digits in the scoring column with Ohio State-bound point guard
Shannon Scott leading the way at 13. Furman signee
Jordan Loyd added 13 while Georgia Tech signee
Julian Royal and standout 6-foot-8 junior
Evan Nolte both notched 11.
"When we play together I don't think anybody can beat us," Loyd said. "We just stay focused, be a team and get the win."
Milton was eliminated from championship contention in the quarterfinals of the City of Palms Classic last December, a fact that wasn't lost on Loyd and his teammates heading into today's game.
"Winter Park got us last year," Loyd said. "We had a lot of haters that said we couldn't do it, but we just played hard and got the win."
The Eagles received big boosts at the end of the second and third quarters as Loyd and Nolte, respectively, beat the clock for last-second buckets.
Future North Carolina Tar Heel
James McAdoo refused to allow Milton to ease into the semifinals, tallying 23 points and 10 rebounds to keep the Ambassadors within striking distance for most of the contest.
McAdoo got help from diminutive guards
Michael Murray and
Dontrell Silver, who combined for 22 points. It wasn't enough to overcome the tournament-tested Eagles.
Milton faces the winner of tonight's game between Dwyer and Winter Park for a trip to the finals.
Signature Series: Academy of the New Church (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) 65, St. Mark's (Southborough, Mass.) 41Academy of the New Church's dynamic duo of
Rakeem Christmas and
Savon Lloyd-Goodman was too much for St. Mark's in a surprisingly-lopsided non-tournament showcase game.
Christmas, a Syracuse signee, dunked his way to 17 points while ripping down 14 rebounds. Lloyd-Goodman, a 6-foot-6 junior committed to Villanova, added 16 points and five boards.
Brothers
Malcolm and
Marcus Gilbert (combined 18 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots and five steals) along with point guard
Jonathan Riles (eight assists) also made important contributions.
Perhaps equally impressive was ANC's ability to neutralize the Massachusetts program's star junior tandem of
Alex Murphy and
Kaleb Tarczewski, who accounted for just 14 points. Both players are considered Top 50 prospects in the 2012 class.
Signature Series: Urspring (Ulm, Germany) 52, Westchester Country Day (High Point, N.C.) 44In the day's second showcase game German academy Urspring – a pipeline to American college programs in recent years – got past Westchester Country Day minus blue-chip Baylor signee
Quincy Miller.
Miller suffered a season-ending knee injury in a game Dec. 10. Without him, the Wildcats didn't have a player over 6-4 and paid for it on the glass, getting outrebounded 34-22.
Six-foot-five guard Kevin Bright led the German squad with 22 points. Mario Blessing added 13, while 7-foot, 240-pound Bogdan Radosavljevic grabbed eight rebounds.
Ike Nwamu attempted to replace Miller's production with 24 points. Another Baylor signee for Westchester Country Day,
Deuce Bello, was held to just 10 points.
Melrose (Memphis, Tenn.) 74, Fort Myers (Fla.) 45Adonis Thomas sparked a second-half runaway for Melrose, outscoring the local school and defending Florida 4A state champion 43-24 after the break.
Thomas, a 6-6 wing and Memphis signee, displayed his diverse game with 25 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots as the Golden Wildcats bounced back from a first-round loss to
Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.).
Auburn signee
Cedric McAfee aided the Melrose cause with 15 points.
Orlando Christian Prep (Orlando, Fla.) 81, Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) 76Junior
Isaac Cohen's 27 points led Orlando Christian Prep past Christ the King in consolation action.
Cohen did much of his damage at the free-throw line, hitting on 11 of 13 attempts. Four other Faith Warriors scored in double figures –
Jordan Montgomery (18),
Adonis Burbage (13),
Dmitri Thompson (10) and
Mike Walmer (10) – as they piled up 51 points in the final 16 minutes to overcome a two-point halftime deficit.
Sophomore
Isaiah Lewis paced Christ the King with 20 points to go along with six assists.
Ricardo Gathers, Riverside Academy
File photo by Jim Redman
In Monday's opener, junior
Ricardo Gathers posted his second double-double in two games at the City of Palms Classic to lead Riverside Academy past Nevada's defending 4A state champions.
The 6-7, 240-pound Gathers posted 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Rebels jumped on Bishop Gorman 17-6 in the first quarter and held on against a frantic comeback attempt in final minutes.
Riverside Academy also received solid play from guards
Lucas Martin-Julien (11 points, five assists) and
Louis Dabney (10 points, six assists).
Shabazz Muhammad, a 6-6 junior guard tabbed No. 4 in MaxPreps.com's 2012 Top 100, poured in 29 points for Bishop Gorman.
Tuesday's schedule8:45 a.m. – Challenge-round game
10:25 a.m. – Challenge-round game
12:05 p.m. – Riverside Academy vs. Orlando Christian Prep
1:45 p.m. – Melrose vs. Dr. Krop
3:30 p.m. – Norfolk Christian vs. Dwyer
5:15 p.m. – Whitney Young vs. Christ School
7 p.m. – Winter Park vs. Milton
9:30 p.m. – St. Patrick vs. Mater Dei
Monday's statistical leadersPoints42 – Austin Rivers, Winter Park
29 – Shabazz Muhammad, Bishop Gorman
27 – Isaac Cohen, Orlando Christian Prep
24 – Ike Nwamu, Westchester Country Day
23 – James McAdoo, Norfolk Christian
22 – Kevin Bright, Urspring
21 – Jacoby Brissett, Dwyer
20 – Isaiah Lewis, Christ the King
Rebounds15 – Jacoby Brissett, Dwyer
14 – Rakeem Christmas, Academy of the New Church
11 – Ricardo Gathers, Riverside Academy
11 – Chris Ortiz, Christ the King
10 – Ronnie Stanley, Bishop Gorman
10 – James McAdoo, Norfolk Christian
9 – Austin Keel, Winter Park
9 – Gregory Louis, Dwyer
8 – Kaleb Tarczewski, St. Mark's
8 – Bogdan Radosavljevic, Urspring
Assists8 – T.J. Curry, Christ the King
8 – Jonathan Riles, Academy of the New Church
6 – Louis Dabney, Riverside Academy
6 – Isaiah Lewis, Christ the King
Around the gym: With college schedules clearing up before Christmas, more coaches made their way to Bishop Verot on Monday, including West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins and assistants from Alabama, California, Kansas, Kentucky and LSU...Ryan Parks of Bishop Gorman bested fellow finalists Delrionte Allen of Dwyer and freshman Kanayo Obi-Rapu of Westchester Country Day to win the 3-point shootout.
