Lehi, Utah- High School basketball is different in Texas. Let me say that again, high school basketball is different in Texas, specifically the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, as three out of four teams won games on day 1 of the Holiday Hoopfest.
The loss coming from Fort Worth Eastern Hills against last year’s Louisiana Select Division 1 state champion, Liberty Magnet. The Highlanders from Eastern Hills opened the game with a huge two-hand dunk from senior point guard Messiah Miller but dug itself an early hole, committing 10 first half turnovers which Liberty turned in to easy finishes at the rim and a barrage of three pointers, four by Kareem Robinson. Miller closed the gap for Eastern Hills at the half after another breakaway dunk, steal and layup narrowing Liberty’s lead to 27-23 at the break.
Eastern Hills settled down in the second half but Miller, plagued by foul trouble, was unable to dig his team out of the early hole. Liberty senior point guard Malek Robinson controlled the pace for his team, leading to easy finishes inside and outside three point shots, he led his team in scoring with 14 points. Messiah Miller would finish with 22 points while consistently wowing the crowd with his athleticism, speed, and lefty jump shot in the loss. “Everything we saw, we prepared for, but we just couldn’t get our feet under us early, said Melvin Miller,” Eastern Hills Head Coach. “Through it all we continued to fight and we cut the lead to four at half. But we really have to learn how to take care of the ball, it’s hard to win with a lot of turnovers.”
Lone Peak (Utah) won last year’s Class 6A girls high school state championship but Faith Family and Alabama bound senior Joy Egbuna’s 21 points were too much to overcome. Faith Family dominated in all phases of the game, but was unmatched in the post. Blanketing Lone Peak with defensive pressure, junior Gianna Jordan disrupted Lone Peak’s offense while sophomore point guard Finley Chastain made plays for her teammates all game. Faith Family would go on to win 72-41.
Duncanville came in to Friday off a great showing at the Chicago Elite Classic and Cam Smith got the scoring started with four first half three pointers against undefeated Orem (UT). Sophomore Beckham Black carved up the defense early finding Smith and Jones, leading the Panthers to an early 16-2 lead and a total of six early trey balls. Orem came out of halftime determined to win and took a brief three point lead but sophomore Christopher Hunt went on a personal 4-0 run and helped Kayden ‘Bugg’ Edwards light his scoring torch. Edwards would finish with 18 points while Hunt scored 13 and Smith 11. Duncanville would go on to win 65-52 and setup a 6:00 PM matchup with #1 overall ranked player and BYU commit AJ Dybansa and his Utah Prep team Saturday evening. “It was a great win, Orem is a really good team, very good players and well coached. They’re a top 35 team in the country. I’m proud of our guys tonight, we are moving in the right direction,” said Duncanville Head Coach David Peavy.
In their second and final game of the event, Lewisville’s ISchool didn’t face much opposition against last year’s class 6A Utah state champion, Lehi. Losing at the buzzer the night before against EYBL Scholastic team Wasatch Academy (UT), ISchool came out focused and ready to regroup. Senior point guard and Tulsa signee Jaylen Lawal scored from all three levels finishing with 23 points, Jackson Townsend converted five threes and David Iwezie controlled the paint in front of his future coaches at Utah State. Lehi senior Easton Hawkins made several mid range and three point shots scoring 21 points but the Cougars from Lewisville were undeterred winning 82-56. “We started off slow and our guy’s regrouped after our loss last night. We made a run in the second half and finished on a positive note,” said ISchool Head Coach Bryan Nwelwue.
