High school basketball: No. 2 IMG Academy defeats No. 5 Montverde Academy 57-53 at Spalding Hoophall Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A loaded holiday weekend of high school basketball culminated Monday with National Top 20 No. 2 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) taking down No. 5 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) 57-53 at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

It was the second meeting of the year between the powerhouse programs with IMG Academy also taking the first 65-64 back on Dec. 3. The rivalry is becoming reminiscent Duke-North Carolina at the college level with both raising their level of play when they meet. The stakes are always high with Montverde Academy claiming the last two national titles and IMG earning the No. 1 spot in 2018-19.

Keyonte George led a balanced scoring effort for IMG Academy (13-2) with 17 points. Jarace Walker added 13 points and seven rebounds while Jett Howard scored 13 points off the bench.

Jalen Hood-Schifino scored a game-high 19 points to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals in the loss for Montverde Academy (13-4).

IMG Academy held a 17-12 lead after the first quarter and 28-25 lead at the end of the first half.

A low-scoring third quarter saw each team tally 11 points, keeping IMG Academy in the lead entering the final frame despite a 5-1 personal run from five-star Montverde junior Kwame Evans Jr.

Montverde Academy took its first lead since the opening basket of the game with 5:18 remaining in the fourth quarter after Derik Queen split a pair of free throws to put the Eagles up 43-42.

The final five minutes of the contest saw a flurry of highlight plays that began with a tip-in on the other end from George to give the Ascenders a 45-42 lead.

Dillon Mitchell responded on the other end with a monster putback slam off his own miss to send the arena into a frenzy. On the other end George made a contested mid-range shot from the left corner.

After a stop on the defensive end, IMG's Walker – headed to Houston next year – got the crowd on its feet again with a poster dunk plus the foul for a 3-point play. That extended the lead to 50-44 with under two minutes remaining.

Montverde Academy refused to go away as Indiana signee Hood-Schifino knocked down a floater cut the deficit to 50-46.

In the final seconds, controversy struck after Evans knocked down a corner 3-pointer to cut IMG's lead to three. Evans attempted to call a timeout to stop the clock with five seconds remaining but Montverde had none left to take resulting in a technical foul.

With a pair of free throws and the ball with just five seconds remaining, IMG Academy was able to notch a huge win at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.