High School

MAIT Boys Basketball quarterfinals recap: Montverde Academy blows by Imani Christian

The Eagles led the Saints 70-23 at halftime and never trailed
Andy Villamarzo|
MAIT Boys Basketball quarterfinals recap: Montverde Academy blows by Imani Christian
MAIT Boys Basketball quarterfinals recap: Montverde Academy blows by Imani Christian

MONTVERDE, FLORIDA– Montverde Academy (Florida), the No. 1 team in the latest SBLive/Sports Illustrated Boys Basketball Power 25 national rankings, was in action, Thursday evening, for an opening round battle with Imani Christian (Pennsylvania) in the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament (MAIT). 

Let’s just say the Eagles made sure to let everyone know who’s the top team in the land with an exclamation point. 

Montverde Academy never trailed in the quarterfinal matchup, rolling to a dominating 127-40 victory over Imani Christian. The Eagles will face Oak Ridge tomorrow in the MAIT semifinals. 

MAIT schedule: 6 McDonald’s All-Americans, 3 Top 25 teams featured in high school basketball tournament

In what looked like somewhat of a mismatch before the game ever got going, the Eagles had themselves a fun night of dunks galore. 

Duke commitment Cooper Flagg was sensational for the Eagles, wowing the crowd with an off-the-backboard dunk. The McDonald’s All-American wasn’t alone when it came to scoring the basketball, however. 

By intermission, the Eagles had a commanding 70-23 lead and never looked back. Lucas Lima led all Eagles in scoring with 21 points on the night. 

In the semifinal before Montverde-Imani, Oak Ridge would face The Rock School (Gainesville, Florida) in a tightly contested tilt. It would be the Pioneers coming out on top 78-64, with Oak Ridge moving on to face Montverde Academy in the semifinals. 

The Pioneers would jump out all over the Lions in the opening quarter, leading 26-10. By halftime, Oak Ridge held a 40-24 lead kept the double-digit advantage for the remainder of the contest. 

Oak Ridge’s top scorer on the night would be 6-foot-6 Georgia Southern commitment Jordan Tillery, who scored a game-high 19 points. Fellow teammates Jalen Reece, Tyler Johnson chipped in 17 and 16 points, respectively. 

Leading the way for The Rock School in the scoring department was Evan Sterck, who posted 16 points and seven assists in the loss. 

The tournament features three national ranked teams, including host No. 1 Montverde and No. 4 Prolific Prep (California) and six McDonald's All-Americans. 

Friday’s semifinal matchups will be Prolific Prep taking on Brewster Academy (New Hampshire) and Montverde Academy against Oak Ridge. 

-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl 

Photo credits: Robson Lopes

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Andy Villamarzo
ANDY VILLAMARZO

Andy Villamarzo has been a sports writer in the Tampa Bay (FL) Area since 2007, writing for publications such as Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Suncoast News, Tampa Beacon, Hernando Sun to name a few. Andy resides out of the Tarpon Springs, FL area and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in the summer of 2022 covering the Tampa Bay Area. He has quickly become one of Florida's foremost authorities on high school sports, appearing frequently on podcasts, radio programs and digital broadcasts as an expert on team rankings, recruiting and much more.

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