Montverde Academy won its second straight championship at the GEICO Nationals on Saturday afternoon at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Ft. Myers, Fla.
With one IU signee and three recruiting targets on the roster, the Eagles defeated Link Academy 60-49 behind a dominant defensive effort.
Indiana class of 2022 signee Jalen Hood-Schifino suffered a finger injury and did not look to shoot the ball in the championship game. He only had two attempts from the field in 29 minutes, while anchoring the defense and adding 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds.
2022 recruiting target Malik Reneau scored 14 points, and the 6-foot-8 power forward added a team-high 12 rebounds, while 2023 6-foot-10 target K.J. Evans had 11 points including three 3-pointers. 2024 forward target Derik Queen saw two minutes of action.
“It’s exciting,” Reneau told ESPN postgame. “We came through a lot of ups and downs early in the season. We thought everything was going downhill. We really picked it up and you can see it right now. We won a national championship.”
Montverde held Link to 32 percent shooting from the field. The Eagles never trailed in their championship game triumph, jumping to an 18-10 lead after the first quarter, 30-25 lead at the half and 47-40 advantage after three quarters.
Reneau was named the most valuable player of the GEICO Nationals. He recently decommitted from Florida after a coaching change, and Indiana is working to get him on campus for an official visit later this month.
His three-game performance in Ft. Myers might raise the top-30 prospect’s profile even more.
“It was really important just to show everybody what I’m capable of, inside and outside,” Reneau said. … “I really think I did a great job today. I should be expecting a couple of calls, but I’m not going to worry about that right now. I’m happy that we won the national championship and I’m just going to keep celebrating.”
Highlights from the game are below.
Hood-Schifino’s teammates praised him as a leader, why they had him hold the trophy “Without him playing next to me we wouldn’t win national championships,” Dariq Whitehead said. “I wanted to show him that appreciation.” #iubb
— KevinBrockwayGators (@KevinBrockwayG1) April 2, 2022
Back to back. 🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/Hn1MSe0RNk
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) April 2, 2022
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