Saturday's most heavily anticipated matchup was between Bartow (Fla.) High and Miami (Fla.) Miami Beach. The game featured a great matchup of highly regarded big men with Bartow featuring 2016's No. 42 player
Tony Bradley and Miami Beach featuring the No. 5 player in 2017,
Zach Brown.
Unfortunately the officials called a tight game and with 3:55 to play in the first quarter, both Bradley and Brown were sidelined with two fouls each.
When the dust settled, Bradley had 16 points and five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the 78-64 win for Bartow, while Brown had 17 points, three rebounds and four blocks for Miami (Fla.) Miami Beach in less than 16 minutes of playing time before fouling out.
A seven-footer, Brown catches everything thrown to him cleanly, even in traffic. He seems to contest every shot that goes up and though he runs a little flat flat-footed he gets up and down the court very well for his size. Brown fought off double, and sometimes triple teams each time he touched the ball. Although defenders were allowed to have a lot of contact with him he kept his head in the game. In fact we only saw him complain to officials twice.
Coaches from
N.C. State,
Georgia Tech,
Miami,
UCF and
Kansas were on hand to watch this game. According to Miami Beach coach Jacob Shaw, Brown picked up an offer from NC State after the game.
Four-star shooting guard
Prince Ali put on a dunking exhibition in front of his future
UCLA head coach
Steve Alford to help Sagemont get their second win in two days. But it was 6-foot-7 sophomore
Tyler Polley who had us rambling for a roster sheet to find out who he was.
Polley came off the bench and made his first six shot attempts, including one three pointer, on his way to a very efficient 15 points.
Polley was aggressive as he took good shots, finished at the rim and made free throws. As he adds strength and his body fills out Polley, who doesn't turn 15 until next month, will start to attract plenty of college attention.
Junior shooting guard
Alberto Moreno burst onto the high stage with 30 points leading Tavares (Fla.) Liberty Christian Prep to a double overtime win over five-star senior shooting guard
Antonio Blakeney and Orlando (Fla.) Oak Ridge.
Moreno is an energy guy with a great feel for the game and good foot speed. He's dangerous in the open court as Oak Ridge defenders found out while struggling to keep the 6-foot-3, 176 pound native of the Canary Islands in front of them.
Seven-foot-5 UCF signee
Tacko Fall added 27 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks for Liberty Christian Prep. For Oak Ridge, Blakeney had a huge 47 point effort and Providence bound Rivals10 power forward
Alex Owens had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds in their team's second loss in as many days.
N.C. State head coach
Mark Gottfried was in the building watching Blakeney in hopes that he can score an official visit. Blakeney said that he is considering taking his final official visit to either
Oregon,
North Carolina or NC State.