5A-13: University School, Chaminade advance to district championship
Class 5A defending state champion University School held on to defeat Cardinal Gibbons, 57-50, and Chaminade-Madonna eliminated Calvary Christian, 73-62, Wednesday night in the 5A-District 13 Tournament semifinals. Here are 5 Takeaways from Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood. 2022 Howard hits clutch…
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Continue ReadingClass 5A defending state champion University School held on to defeat Cardinal Gibbons, 57-50, and Chaminade-Madonna eliminated Calvary Christian, 73-62, Wednesday night in the 5A-District 13 Tournament semifinals.
Here are 5 Takeaways from Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood.
2022 Howard hits clutch 3
Cardinal Gibbons’ strategy vs. University School was to slow the pace and spread things out. Gibbons led U-School, 11-10, after one quarter and trailed by only four, 41-37, going to the fourth period. The Chiefs would tie it up, 50-all, after an Alex Vertus (2020) 3-pointer and a Troy Boynton (2021) layup off of a steal with 1:45 remaining in the game.
But University School freshman Jett Howard then hit the shot of the game on a long 3 with 1:18 to play. Gibbons senior Gertautas Urbonavicius tried to counter with a 3 of his own. However, it was off the mark and Duke 6-foot-10 2019 recruit Vernon Carey Jr. slammed home another two at the other end to put it away.
“Hat’s off to Jett Howard,” Cardinal Gibbons coach Devin Barta said. “Freshman … I challenged him to make a shot and he did it.”
Barnes cuts list to eight
Howard led University School with 16 points. He connected on 6 of 8 from the field, including four 3-pointers. Carey was 4 of 8 from the field and made 5 free throws for 14 points and 4 blocks. Juniors Scottie Barnes and Roger McFarlane chipped in 10 points apiece.
“We just tried to keep playing our game,” said the 6-8 Barnes, who is one of the top juniors in the nation. “Tried to make the right plays down in transition.”
Barnes cut his list of potential colleges to eight Wednesday: Cal, Duke, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Ohio State and Oregon.
Rice University was in the stands to watch McFarlane.
Urbonavicius led Gibbons with 14 points, Vertus added 13 and Isiah Edden 11.
‘We want U-School’
“We want U-School” was the chant from the Chaminade-Madonna student body as the Lions put away Calvary Christian. University School knocked the Lions out of the postseason last year in a highly-charged contest.
Wednesday, Chaminade bolted out to a 21-4 first-quarter lead and held about a 7- to 12-point lead throughout. With University of Georgia coach Tom Crean in the stands, Dawgs 2019 signee Toumani Camara led the Lions with 24 points. 2021 guard Thaddius Franklin, Andre Weir-Balmaceda (2020) and Justin Palacios (2019) also finished in double figures.
“I think we’re good,” Camara said of where Chaminade stands. “We’re getting everything together, the little details.”
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Chaminade coach Andre Torres added. “Getting here is tough but the tough part is advancing also. Happy we are advancing.”
Tough out for McSweeney
It was a tough out for Calvary Christian and coach Cilk McSweeney. Calvary won state in Class 5A two years ago and made it to regionals last year. McSweeney will return freshman Gregg Glenn III next year, among other parts.
“He led our team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks. All five categories,” McSweeney said. “So he had a remarkable freshman year. But I think the sky is the limit for him. He is going to continue getting better. He is going to come into his sophomore year much, much better.”
Glenn, who plays with Nightrydas on the travel circuit, has an Iowa State offer. Miami has been in to watch him and McSweeney said Clemson is coming Thursday.
Senior Tim Dalger may go the prep school route, he said. Dalger is interested in Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut.
What’s next
University School and Chaminade-Madonna will meet in the district championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Chaminade. Both teams have qualified for regionals.
University School defeated Chaminade, 68-58, up in Cape Canaveral in their only regular-season meeting. “They’re a great team,” Barnes said of Chaminade. “They put up a tough fight against us last time. It was a very hard game to play against them, so it will be a good one.”
“I love this team and I like where we’re going,” University School coach Jim Carr said.
If you have high school basketball news, you can reach Pat Lammer via text at 954-661-9671.