Brandon Ching | ScoringLive
December 20, 2022, 6:24am
Montverde overhwelms host Iolani to reach Classic semifinals
Greg Yamamoto | SLTop-ranked national powerhouse Montverde (Florida) dominated from start to finish to overwhelm host Iolani, 84-26 in the quarterfinal round of the Iolani Classic.
The Eagles, who participate in the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference, had four players score in double figures, led by Derik Queen's double-double performance 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Cooper Flagg led the starters with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Sean Stewart (Duke University signee) added 14 points and eight boards off the bench, and Chris Johnson (Kansas signee) with 11 points.
Montverde faces Mount Saint Joseph (Baltimore, Maryland) in Tuesday's semifinal nightcap at 8 p.m.
The Eagles jumped out to a 9-0 run punctuated by Johnson's dunk in transition. Kaimana Lau Kong, who returned after suffering a knee injury in the opening round against Radford, scored four of Iolani's five quarter points off of dump off passes.
Montverde led 25-5 after the first quarter and extended the lead to 47-13 at halftime.
Taniela Taliauli led Iolani with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting and scored on a drive and a 3-pointer in the third quarter.
The Eagles shot 35 of 57 (61 percent) from the floor while the Raiders shot 7 of 46 (15 percent).
With a big size advantage, Montverde out rebounded Iolani, 45 to 14.
Iolani takes on Mount Vernon (New York) at 5 p.m.
