LuHi Takes Out IMG Academy
Long Island Lutheran took on a major heavyweight last night when they played IMG Academy on the road. While the Ascenders have been the gold standard for high school programs. Long Island Lutheran not only has earned the right to play them, but they also have a team good enough to beat them. Let’s break it down.
The Crusaders took a slight 21-16 lead after a very exciting quarter between the two teams. IMG had 6’5” SG Chase McCarty (IMG Academy, FL ’24) who is committed to Houston step up during the first and 6’3” PG Darius Acuff Jr. (IMG Academy, FL ’25) looked strong as well. Acuff is a 5-star prospect and considered the top point guard in 2025 by many. While they did play well early on 6’5” SG VJ Edgecombe (Long Island Lutheran HS, NY ’24) looked to establish himself as the guy and he sure did.
Acuff made some tough shots in the second, McCarty scored as well but IMG had a few sloppy turnovers. LuHi was rolling offensively grabbing offensive rebounds and got a nice offensive punch from 6’3” PG Kayden Mingo (Long Island Lutheran HS, NY ’25). They got a few key stops, had some big time blocks and were getting everything they wanted on the offensive end. The Crusaders carried their slight 42-38 lead into halftime as they looked to capture another high quality win.
LuHi has taken down some titans this year, such as Oak Hill, Sunrise Christian, La Lumiere and Link Academy, but you could tell they really wanted this one. The Crusaders have been such an incredible offensive unit, we were shocked to see IMG give them fits in the third. They couldn’t get anything to fall; the Ascenders were making things difficulty and were scoring easily on the other end. Acuff started to take over a bit while the Crusaders started to look for answers.
IMG dominated the third 24–12, and it looked as if they were going to take down the Crusaders. LuHi came out on fire in the fourth quarter as Mingo and Edgecombe just refused to let their team do down. LuHi crashed the glass, picked up the defensive intensity and knew they only had 8 minutes to get back into the game.
The Crusaders had overcome their 2-13 shooting in the third quarter and fought all the way back. They forced overtime after a monster fourth and had IMG on the ropes. Mingo hit some huge free throws, they got a big stop, and Edgecombe finished a big bucket, giving them the lead. LuHi held IMG to 1-7 shooting down the stretch of this game and won the game 83-81.
IMG was 12-24 from three, got 20-points from McCarty, plus Acuff had 26-points and 9 assists but it still wasn’t enough. LuHi had 40-points in the paint, overcame a 9-point deficit in the fourth, played elite defense in the final five minutes and dominated the glass especially offensively. This was a tremendous win for the team and an amazing accomplishment for this outstanding program.
Edgecombe was the star of the night with a game high of 27-points and 3 blocks. While Mingo was sensational as well going 7-7 from the line, he had ten rebounds plus had 22-points. These two squads were as good as advertised but LuHi has pushed themselves right to the top of the list of the best teams in the country. They will have a chance to prove it to everyone once again when they face off against Montverde at Hofstra University in a week.