Montverde Mows Down Stepinac
The City of Palms event in Fort Myers Florida, features multiple powerhouse programs ranked in the top ten this season. While Stepinac earned a bye in the first round, they got a tough break when they got matched up with the Montverde Academy Eagles who are regarded by many as the best team in the nation. These two teams faced off in the opening game on Thursday and unfortunately, it was tough for one for our local boys.
Montverde 6’10” 5 star PF Derik Queen (Montverde Academy, FL ‘24) scored first, 6’3” PG Johnuel "Boogie" Fland (Archbishop Stepinac HS, NY ‘24) finished a beautiful reverse layup. Queen hit both free throws after drawing a foul. Montverde got a stop, Queen grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback. Fland found a teammate for three, Queen kicked out of double teams for three and after the Eagles got a steal they scored again. Stepinac missed, Eagles hit a three, Queen grabbed the rebound and found 6’10” F Cooper Flagg (Montverde Academy, FL ‘24) for an alley oop. Flagg, the recent Duke commit, and No.1 player ranked in the country also celebrated his birthday today.
Queen hit two free throws, Fland finished inside over two defenders, then hit a deep NBA three, but the Eagles were able to hit two more free throws. Flagg scored, and Stepinac hit a floater. Fland went 1/2 from the line, Flagg dunked off a rebound and Queen got another late bucket to end the quarter.
Eagles hit a free throw, Flagg got free for another slam. Boogie found a teammate for two but Montverde buried another triple. Eagles 6’8” SF Liam McNeely (Montverde Academy, FL ‘24) an Indiana commit knocked down a three. Stepinac scored, Queen scored, and Boogie took on three defenders converting a wild and1. The Crusaders scored, Queen beat his man with a dunk. Stepinac hit a free throw, got a stop and scored again. Montverde missed, Queen cleaned it up for two. McNeely hit a free throw, Eagles missed again but Queen was there once again for a rebound put back.
Stepinac missed free throws, Eagles scored, Crusaders went 1/2 from the line. Flagg converted two after drawing a foul late. Montverde had taken a 48-26 lead into halftime after shooting over 55% and holding Stepinac to 31% from the field. They started the third with a big three, Fland kicked out to a teammate for three. Eagles scored after a stop and then got an easy two from Flagg. Stepinac missed, the Eagles scored, Crusaders turned it over then Flagg caught the ball on the move and threw down one of the nastiest dunks we’ve ever seen.
The crowd that was going wild was silenced after a nice Fland basket. Eagles scored, Stepinac got two free throws and another deep triple from Fland. Montverde scored to stop the run. Stepinac hit a jumper, Flagg hit a three and Stepinac threw down a nice dunk. McNeely hit two free throws, Stepinac scored, Montverde finished a layup and after a miss Fland stole the ball for two at the buzzer.
While the Crusaders were fighting Montverde had built a comfortable 70-44 lead after three quarters of play. They traded buckets, Flagg hit a three, Eagles scored again and Fland converted both free throws. McNeely knocked down a three, Fland responded with one of his own, Montverde went on a 7-0 run with another McNeely triple. He scored on the next two possessions and the benches officially emptied with just a few minutes to go.
Montverde won 95-55 as they looked every bit like the No. 1 team in the country. They play a tight rotation, have elite size, and are a tremendous rebounding team. That capitalize on every mistake you make, plus they’re extremely unselfish players. Flagg had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, our favorite dunk of the year while shooting 8-11 from the field. Queen added 20 points on 8-10 shooting while McNeely added 16 points. Fland was absolutely sensational for Stepinac finishing with a game high 23 points and showed the world exactly why he’s a 5-star. While we are still confident in the Crusaders, especially in the CHSAA, this Montverde team looks historically great in our opinion.