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By Christopher Lawlor FORT MYERS, Fla. — Montverde (Fla.) Academy wait all season for moments such as this. It is the sights and sounds of winning the GEICO High School Nationals boys’ tournament championship. The sounds: the final horn blaring and the sheet delight of delirious screaming players, some playing in their final high school games. The sights: staring at the scoreboard in disbelief and when the silverware exchanges hands. The Montverde Eagles are making a habit of this and are getting accustomed to it. This time the Eagles needed to keep their composure and withstand a series of haymakers…

By Christopher Lawlor FORT MYERS, Fla. — In a result that was not anticipated by many, the Montverde (Fla.) Academy Lady Eagles pulled away late to capture the GEICO High School Nationals girls championship. The final: Montverde 61, New Hope Academy (Landover Hills, Md.) 57 on Saturday morning in the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWest State University. New Hope was the top seed and did not suffer a loss since playing at the Nike Tournament of Champions before Christmas in Phoenix. Montverde last played a regular season game on Jan. 29 but the two-month layoff…

By Christopher Lawlor FORT MYERS, Fla. — No way April Fool’s Day was going to catch up with Link Academy (Branson, Mo.). The day after the most improbable upset in the history of the GEICO High School Nationals, the Lions would have none of that tomfoolery. Link defeated upset-minded Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), 59-53, Friday afternoon in the GEICO Nationals semifinals in the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWest State University. The fourth-seeded Lions (33-1) meet third-seeded Montverde (Fla.) Academy for the GEICO Nationals championship on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN. Prolific concluded their…

Game 3, Day 2 FORT MYERS, Fla. — The fundamentals usually separate the winners from the losers especially in a tightly played contest. Take Montverde (Fla.) Academy. The Eagles converted only 10 of 17 free throws for 58.8% on Friday afternoon but it counted the most in the final 18 seconds, they canned four consecutive free throws under intense pressure. Leading by a point over archrivals IMG Academy, Dariq Whitehead and Jalen Hood-Schfino each canned a pair of free throws and the third-seeded Eagles survived a 62-57 decision in the semifinals of the GEICO High School Nationals boys’ tournament in…

By Christopher Lawlor FORT MYERS, Fla. — For two quarters or roughly 16 minutes, New Hope Academy (Landover Hills, Md.) played out of this world. Really, the Lady Tigers might have gotten off to a slow start but bridging the second and third quarters, there was no better team on the scholastic level that could have hung with them. The secret sauce isn’t so secret. It starts with defense. It ends with defense. And in between it’s about applying pressure that literally squeezes the life out of a team. The top-seeded Lady Tigers defeated IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), 80-50, Friday…

By Christopher Lawlor FORT MYERS, Fla. — Special Jennings, the coach of Montverde (Fla.) Academy, was a heckuva college player back in the day at Xavier University. She was an elite point guard and floor general who guided the Musketeers to a national ranking in the early portion of this century. Turns out she’s heckuva coach too. Jennings and her second-seeded Lady Eagles were up for the challenge Friday morning during a 67-54 win over instate rivals DME Sports Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.) in the GEICO High School Nationals girls semifinals in the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus…

By Christopher Lawlor FORT MYERS, Fla. — In one of the biggest upsets in GEICO High School Nationals’ history, the top seeds and the nation’s No. 1 team fell in the quarterfinals. Simply put, eighth-seeded Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) wanted it more and it was courtesy of a clutch three-point field goal with time running out during a stunning 59-56 victory over Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) before a shocked crowd in the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWest State University. Sophomore forward Zion Sensley buried a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds left to unlock a…