Springfield, MA – Onyeka Okongwu of Chino Hills High in Southern California and Zion Williamson of Spartanburg Day School in South Carolina hooked up in a crowd-pleasing confrontation Saturday night to a cap the day’s eight games played in Springfield College’s Blake Arena for the 17th Spalding HoopHall Classic.
Ultimately, Okongwu, a 6-foot-8 junior, came out on top ever-so-slightly, statistically, against the 6-6, 275-pound Williamson, who made a strong on-court presentation as to why he should be rated the No. 1 player in the national senior class.
And Okongwu (PICTURED) and his Huskies’ teammates also finally pulled away down the stretch to come away with a 70-64 victory in front of, by all accounts, the largest crowd in the event’s history.
There was even more suspense – and just as much “star power” – in the game played just before the Chino Hills-Spartanburg Day School clash, as Montverde (FL) Academy’s players and coaches had to hold their collective breath as Chicago Simeon’s Talen Horton-Tucker’s 45-footer glanced off the rim at the final buzzer and giving them the 62-60 victory.
The miss by Tucker preserved Montverde’s unbeaten record after 21 games and its presumptive status as the No. 1 high school or prep school team in the country.
The Eagles return for another HoopHall Classic game Monday afternoon (1 o’clock ET) against Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei.
Williamson, who many expect will announce next Saturday that his one-season college stay (safely Sharpie him into one of the first few slots in the 2019 NBA Draft) will be at in-state Clemson, was playing in just his third game this season – and second in less than a week – because of injury.
But, Saturday night, he certainly looked none-the-worse for whatever wear he had endured while finishing with 36 more-often-than-not spectacular points (hitting 16 of 24 shots, including a 3) to go with seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and one oh-my-goodness block of an Okongwu jump hook attempt in the fourth quarter.
But Okongwu was more than up to the challenge of his first “national stage” appearance in the “post-Ball Brothers Era” of Chino Hills basketball.
And Okongwu’s teammates contributed just more enough than did Williamson’s to help the Huskies – who play in the Baseline League, one of the toughest in all of the West – improve to 9-7.
Okongwu scored 35 points (13 of 20 from the field, including a 3, and perfect on eight free throws) with 15 rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals.
Checked by Williamson pretty much the entire second half (the Huskies played a couple variations of zone throughout), Okongwu put his team in front to stay (at 53-51) with a couple of free throws a second before the end of the third quarter.
With the Huskies still up a point (at 60-59), Okongwu scored consecutive buckets via drives and then teammate Ofure Ujadughele (10 points and five rebounds) scored in transition while being fouled with about three minutes to go.
Chino Hills never led by fewer than six points the rest of the way. Okongwu’s final bucket coming on a spinning, hanging layup with 1:01 to go before he fouled out 36 seconds remaining.
Junior guard Phaquon Davis got 15 of his 18 points via 3-pointers for the Huskies of first-year coach Dennis Latimore while senior forward Matthew Brown (11 points, despite 3 of 11 shooting, and 12 rebounds) was easily the Griffins’ second most productive player.
The Huskies were playing their third consecutive game without senior forward Andre Ball (left ankle injury), the first cousin of Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo, who missed the bulk of his junior season with a shoulder injury that needed repair with surgery.
Montverde had just two reasonably competitive games before Saturday (nine- and 10-point wins against L.A. Fairfax and Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha, respectively).
But Simeon (which fell to 13-3) never appeared close to surrender against Montverde Coach Kevin Boyle’s impressive R.J. Barrett-led collective of players.
The 6-7, Duke-bound Barrett showed more than enough glimpses as to why many in the scouting/evaluating “industry” consider him the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2018, although Williamson was to put a major dent into that perspective in the next game.
The left-handed Barrett finished with 23 points, hitting 10 of 15 shots from the floor including a 3.
But he missed five of seven free throws and was credited with as many turnovers (six) as he was rebounds and just a single assist.
Three of those missed free throws came in the final 51 seconds, the third on the back end of a 1-and-1 with 6.7 seconds to go.
After securing the rebound and a timeout, Simeon’s Kenny Pittman’s inbound pass was slapped away by Montverde’s Andrew Nembhard but Tucker recovered the ball with just enough time to launch the shot that came dangerously close – from Montverde’s point of view – to ringing in three points and the upset.
Tucker, who could join Williamson and Barrett as McDonald’s All-Americans when the squad is announced Monday night, scored 26 points (12 on 3s) to go with 10 rebounds but he also had turnover issues (he was credited with seven).
In the other six games played Saturday:
Orlando Oak Ridge 80, Roselle (NJ) Catholic 69: The Pioneers (14-3) were on the Lions from Jump Street – too assertive and too quick to the ball throughout against the bigger Lions throughout and finally overwhelming them by a 14-point margin in the third quarter.
Senior guard Robin Perry led the way with 27 points while LSU-bound forward Emmitt Williams added 17 points (about eight of them via Smash Dunks) and 11 rebounds.
Six-ten Nazreon Reid, scheduled to become a teammate of Williams in Baton Rouge, was credited with 20 points and 14 rebounds but never impacted the game on the defensive end for the Lions.
Washington, DC Gonzaga College 86, Waterbury (CT) Sacred Heart 51: Coach Stephen Turner’s Eagles improved to 13-1 and were as impressive as any team on display Saturday.
Six-five senior Myles Dread got 15 of his 25 points via 3-pointers while 6-7 sophomore Terrence Williams turned in a no-nonsense, 26-point and 10-rebound effort.
Philadelphia Imhotep 66, New Haven Hillhouse 38: Seven guys got six to 16 points, with 6-6 junior Jamil Riggins leading the way for the 12-2 Panthers.
Six-eight sophomore Elijah Taylor went double-double (10 rebounds, 10 assists to go with four blocked shots) against Hillhouse.
Arlington (VA) O’Connell 83, Albany (NY) Academy 69: The Knights’ final margin wasn’t indicated of how competitive the contest was over the first three or so quarters as Coach Joe Wootten’s club led by only two points going into the final eight minutes of regulation before pulling away to improve to 12-4.
Mount Saint Mary’s-bound guard Matt Becht hit six of seven shots from behind the arc while on his way to a 27-point effort for O’Connell, which also got a combined 23 points and 11 assists from guards Xavier Johnson (who is going to Nebraska) and Ayan Teel (a 5-9 junior).
The Cadets (3-3) got quality performances via 6-7 sophomore Andre Jackson (27 points, eight assists and four rebounds) and juniors August Mahoney, a left lander who hit four 3s in 11 attempts while scoring 20 points, and 6-8 Marcus Filien, who contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.
Long Island Lutheran 76, Lawrence (MA) Central Catholic 54: A balanced attack, paced by junior guard Tyson Etienne’s 23 points, helped his team go 10-2 as those only losses have come to New York’s Christ the King and Florida’s Montverde Academy.
Six-nine Donatas Kupsas, who is from Lithuania and recently committed to sign with Weber State in the spring, added 13 points and six rebounds while 6-3 senior Tykei Greene chipped in with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
South Burlington (VT) Rice 62, Rochester (NY) McQuaid Jesuit 58: Six-three sophomore Leo Chaikin scored 24 points to go with 16 rebounds and four assists as the Green Knights improved to 6-1 in the first game of the day.
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