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Brandon Ching | ScoringLiveDecember 21, 2017, 12:23am
Wed, Dec 20, 2017 @ Iolani
Montverde Academy (Fla.) dominated from start to finish to wallop Jefferson (Portland, Ore.), 71-43, to win the Iolani Prep Classic title on Wednesday night.
Montverde's 6-foot-9 forward Makhel Mitchell led all scorers with 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Mitchell dominated the paint in the third quarter to score 10 of the team's 17 third quarter points.
"He's a man and he's got great hands. When he's not in foul trouble, he's a man child and he's learning to play hard," said Montverde coach Kevin Boyle, on Mitchell.
RJ Barrett, the top-rated player of 2018 and Duke signee averaged 27.3 points per game in the tournament, but was held to 14 points and shot 4 of 10 from the free throw line.
"Hawaii is a great experience and the competition was great. The semifinal game (Fairfax) was a awakening and we were blowing out teams and it was a good game for us. Today, we came ready to play defense and execute," said Barrett.
Eagle guards Michael Devoe and Andrew Nembhard, both listed at 6-foot-4, each added 11 points.
Despite winning by an average of 37.8 points, Montverde didn't have all their players suited up.
The Eagles jumped out to a 15-0 lead led by Nembhard's nine points. Kamaka Hepa sank a pair of free throws to get the Democrats on the board at the 2:03 mark. Hepa also made Jefferson's only field goal of the quarter to score all six quarter points.
Montverde's length and athleticism made things difficult for Jefferson, who shot 1 of 12 from the field in the quarter.
"I thought we played great defense in the second and third quarter yesterday. We were afraid of fouling too much and got to passive and playing not to foul. We had to get back to helping and good fundamentals. I thought we were great defensively," said Boyle.
"We try to beef our preseason schedule up with tournaments and tough so it can help us out down the stretch in league play and the state tournament. This gives us a barometer of where we're at," said Jefferson coach Patrick Strickland.
The Democrats were able to get their shots to fall, but Montverde continued to control the game and led 34-13 following Trevin Wade's steal and flush. Democrats trailed, 37-20 heading into halftime.
"Their length and talent level bothered us. We also had some good shots that didn't go down which hurt us. I feel like if we knocked some early shots down we would've been there in the first half. That's how it flows sometimes, when you're playing a solid team like that, you can't afford to have a bad minute or you'll suffer," said Strickland.
Marcus Tsohonis (17.8 points per game) finished with a team-high 14 points and Khalil Chatman added 13. Tsohonis and Chatman each scored seven and eight points in the second half respectively.
"My guys played hard and it will benefit us in the end," said Strickland.
6-foot-10 center Kamaka Hepa, who had a monster game against Bishop O'Dowd, had to battle against Makhel Mitchell and Filip Petrusev all night but managed to score 12 points and shot 8 of 9 (88.8 percent) from the free throw line.
"I thought Filip (Petrusev) did a great job against Hepa. He's going to Gonzaga and he's a great gift for them. He's a European guy who can shoot the 3 and guard on the perimeter," said Boyle, on Petrusev.
Overall, both teams found the Hawaii experience to be very valuable.
"We've been to China before we came here to Hawaii. It's been a long trip, but we're trying to learn and keep moving forward," said Barrett.
"It was a great experience for the guys. To compete like we did. At the end of the day if you say in the beginning of the season to take second, I think most guys would be happy. As a competitor I'm not happy with second place, but it is what it is. It's definitely a great experience to come out here and we'll cherish it," said Strickland.
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