FORT MYERS, DEC. 21, 2017 –Right when it appeared that The Ranney School (NJ) was sleepwalking through a 9 a.m. game, the Panthers started an 18-0 run midway into the first quarter and never looked back, on their way to a 66-49 victory over Orlando Christian Prep, in a consolation semifinal game Friday morning at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
O.C.P., playing without injured five-star forward Nassir Little (North Carolina), started the game firing on all cylinders and quickly took a 13-4 lead. Just as quickly as that happened, the Warriors found themselves trailing the Panthers 22-13 after the first possession of the second quarter.
Ranney School was led by five-star Bryan Antoine’s game high 30 points. Antoine also had seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Savior Akuwovo had 12 points and seven rebounds while five-star guard Scottie Lewis filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block.
Dejuan Lockett led O.C.P. with 16 points and six rebounds, four-star forward C.J. Walker had eight points, four rebounds and two assists and Ronaldo Segu (Towson) added seven points and a game high eight assists.
OAK RIDGE BUILDS 16 POINT LEAD THEN FENDS OFF HUDSON CATHOLIC’S RALLY
Senior Emmitt Williams had 24 points and nine rebounds to lead Oak Ridge to a 63-59 win over No. 4 ranked Hudson Catholic (NJ) in a fifth-place semifinal game.
Less than 24 hours after a hard-fought physical loss to No. 1 ranked Memphis East (TN), the Pioneers shot 48.9 percent (22-of-45) from the field and, after leading by as much as 16 points in the third quarter, held off the Hawks fourth quarter comeback bid to get the win.
“I learned that we’re mentally tough,” Oak Ridge head coach Steve Reese said of his team’s resiliency in today’s game. “Last night took a lot out of me. When you prepare, and you pretty much win the game, and then you lose it at the end it takes a lot out of us.”
Reece went on to reflect on Thursday night’s loss to Memphis East.
“We were excited to play,” he said. “Some people run from playing [teams] like Memphis East. We were excited to play them because it was an opportunity to see how good we really are. Our guys see these guys all the time on the [AAU] circuit but being able to have the opportunity to play against them in high school, that’s the one thing I wanted us to be able to accomplish and show what Oak Ride and the city of Orlando and the state of Florida can do on the national scene. It’s just a blessing and an honor that the City Of Palms allows us to be able to stay in state and be able to go against the best.”
Williams, the No. 21 ranked prospect in the 2018 class, also had four assists, two blocks and one steal while playing all 32 minutes of today’s game. Kaleb Coleman had 12 points and six rebounds while four-star wing Antwann Jones (Texas A&M) and Damon Harge each had eight points.
Hudson Catholic five-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly had a game high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Quinerly, the No. 22 ranked prospect in the 2018 class and a one-time Arizona commit, also grabbed seven rebounds, had three assists and one steal. Luther Muhammad, the No. 72 ranked prospect in the 2018 class, had 16 points and nine rebounds.
STAT OF THE GAME: Oak Ridge was a perfect 16-of-16 from the free throw line.
UP NEXT: Oak Ridge plays Wesleyan Christian (N.C.) at 2:20 p.m. Saturday in the Fifth Place Championship game.
SHARKS TAKE A BITE OUT OF THE INDIANS
University School (Davie) got 21 points from Vernon Carey, Jr., and several Sharks made clutch free throws in the final 1:19 to notch a 71-63 victory over McEachern (GA) in the second semifinal game of the City Of Palms Classic.
Carey, the No. 1 ranked prospect in the 2019 class, added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Sophomore five-star forward Scottie Barnes also had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Barnes also added five assists, four blocks and two steals. Drue Drinnon (New Mexico) and Logan Alters had 20 and 11 points respectively.
McEachern sophomore point guard Sharife Cooper had another all-tournament type of performance with a game high in points (26), assists (6) and steals (3). Four-star junior Isaac Okoro added 16 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Carey, Jr. really got going in the second half when McEachern made a change in their defensive strategy taking Jared Jones off of Carey and putting Babatunde Akingbola on him instead. That decision did not work out too well for the Indians.
U-School shot 51.9 percent from the floor as a team but the stat of the game was that the Sharks were able to play defense without fouling which limited McEachern to just three free throws for the game.
UP NEXT: University School will face No. 1 ranked Memphis East for the City Of Palms championship Saturday night.
