City of Palms: Monday Recap

December 19, 2023 by Travis Graf

Some of the nation's best take the floor for the 50th annual City of Palms tournament throughout the course of this week. Here's a breakdown of the first day's action.

MILLENNIUM (61) vs PAUL VI (80)

This matchup was a close one up until the fourth quarter. Entering the fourth, Paul VI led by just six points, but they outscored Millennium by 13 in the final period to win by 19.

The outcome of the game was predicated heavily by Paul VI’s work on the glass, where they won the rebound battle 41 to 21 in a group effort. They also dominated the paint in general, doubling Millennium’s scoring output from that area to the tune of 40 to 20.

Future Rhode Island Ram Ben Hammond continued to show why he’s one of the more underrated guards in the country as he led Paul VI with 21 points on 9-of-16 scoring while grabbing six boards and dishing out five assists. Future Duke Blue Devil Darren Harris added 17 for Paul VI, while 2026 guard Cameron Holmes led Millennium with 22.

LINK ACADEMY (67) vs NORTH MECKLENBURG (59)

North Mecklenburg started off very hot, jumping out to a 9-0 run, then Link outscored them by a combined 41-17 over the next couple of quarters. During this time, Texas signee Tre Johnson and 2025 five-star Jasper Johnson took over during different spurts as the lead mounted.

To start the second half, North Mecklenburg built some momentum and future Duke Blue Devil Isaiah Evans started to heat up. What was once a consistently-building lead for Link was cut down to two points heading into the fourth.

Two three-pointers to open the fourth quarter from the five-star duo of Tre Johnson and Labaron Philon gave Link some breathing room and Link would end up out scoring North Mecklenburg by six in the final period.

Link shot 9-of-20 from the outside and 12-of-14 from the free throw line and were paced by Tre Johnson, who ended with 26 points and seven boards. Jasper Johnson and Labaron Philon combined to score 25, and Isaiah Evans led North Mecklenburg with 20.

WESTMINSTER ACADEMY (88) vs MARINER (45)

Westminster jumped out to a 13 point lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back, out scoring Mariner by at least seven in every quarter. They were just too much to handle for Mariner on the interior, out-rebounding them by 19 and out-scoring them in the paint by 30.

Westminster was led by extremely efficient efforts from Alex Lloyd and Dwayne Wimbley Jr. Lloyd finished with 30 points on 13-of-17 from the field while Wimbley added 21 on 10-of-14 shooting. Alex Constanza finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds for Westminster.

Kelvin Jimenez of Mariner was their lone double-digit scorer, finishing with 12 points.

CANNON SCHOOL (57) vs MONTVERDE ACADEMY (110)

Montverde showed once again why they’re widely considered the best team in high school basketball in a very impressive outing. They never shot worse than 58% in a quarter and shot 69% from the field for the game.

Cannon was just out-classed across the board and really struggled with Montverde’s size and skill. Montverde out-rebounded Cannon 41 to 11 and scored 62 points in the paint. Montverde also shot 60% from the outside, and there’s not a team in the country that can beat them if they shoot anywhere close to that number.

Six players scored in double-figures for Montverde and they were led by the number one player in the 2024 class, Cooper Flagg, who finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. He showed his usual freakish athleticism at the rim and knocked down a couple of outside shots with confidence.