Lake Highland Prep tops Myrtle Beach to reach CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational championship

Lake Highland Prep (Fla.) coach Al Honor was worried Myrtle Beach might spark a comeback in the second half of Monday’s semifinals, despite his team leading by 16.

After all, the Seahawks played two close games to start the tournament, including a come-from-behind win over Archer (Ga.) after a 15-point deficit in the quarterfinals.

The Highlanders, however, used a big second-half performance to put away Myrtle Beach for a 69-38 victory at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center to advance to the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational championship game.

“I’m just proud of the girls. They played a full game. I was concerned with a letdown in the second half, with how Myrtle Beach has played in their first two games,” said Honor, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the state of Florida, according to MaxPreps.com. “I saw that they don’t quit, they keep coming and I was really concerned. I wanted my girls to come out and play a complete game. They brought the fight to them, and that’s all I ask from my girls. Turn it on and give it all you have, and that’s what they did.”

Honor asked his girls to come out with intensity right away Monday.

Alabama signee Jordan Lewis provided plenty of it for Lake Highland Prep (13-0) with her first-half performance. Lewis scored 16 of her game-high 22 points to pace the Highlanders.

Tyra Cox scored 15 points, Rachel Jablonski had 12, and Jiselle Havas chipped in nine for Lake Highland Prep.

“My team came out ready to play and ready to attack. We knew Myrtle Beach was the hometown team and they had the crowd behind them,” Lewis said. “They had two big wins against Christ the King (N.Y.) and Archer. So we had to stay focused and not let them back in the game once we started scoring.”

Lewis also came up huge in the Highlanders’ opening games. In Lake Highland Prep’s first round victory over White Knoll, she scored a game-high 17 points. In Saturday’s win over Center Point (Ala.), Lewis put up a team-high 14 points.

Honor isn’t surprised by his senior’s efficiency.

“It’s a proud feeling. Almost like a father,” Honor said of Lewis. “She’s been with me since she was in the eighth grade and watching her development, I know what she’s going to give me when she steps on the court. And that’s difficult playing so hard all the time like she does.”

Lewis said with her signing to Alabama out of the way, it took a lot of pressure off her during a tournament where a lot of top college coaches like South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and North Carolina’s Sylvia Hatchell are watching from the sidelines.

“Definitely. It definitely take pressure off because I don’t have to go out there and perform for anybody,” Lewis said. “I can just focus on the game and not on the people around you watching you play.”

Seahawks coach Jennifer Dennison was wary of Lewis the entire game. While her team did better covering Lewis in the second half, the damage was already done.

“I told them, ‘Don’t be scared of [Lewis].’ She’s a great player and she’s tough,” Dennison said. “We just asked them in the second half to just fight back. We just want them to try to do the little things.”

Kiana Adderton had a team-high 15 points and Nia Sumpter added 13 points and eight rebounds for Myrtle Beach.

Despite the loss, Dennison’s Seahawks (11-1) are off to a strong start. Dennison said she is grateful for her team’s opportunity to play in the prestigious tournament and believes Myrtle Beach will only benefit when Region VII-AAA play rolls around in January.

However, the Seahawks still have one more to go in the CresCom as they take on the St. Mary’s (Canada) in the third-place game Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.

“We want to play good teams,” Dennison said. “[Lake Highland Prep] is a great team out of Orlando, the No. 1 team in the state of Florida. We need to work on some things that we couldn’t do [Monday], and we would like to thank John Rhodes for letting us play in this tournament and helping us get better for January.

The Highlanders will look for their first-ever CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational title as they battle the St. Francis (Ga.) on Tuesday at 2:15 p.m.

“Those are two very talented squads. [St. Mary’s], I watched them shoot the ball and shoot it well. I’ve seen St. Francis over the past couple of years. They’re big and well-coached,” Honor said. “Both teams are well-coached. It’s going to be a dogfight for us and we’re just happy to be in the championship, but we’re not content yet. We want to win the thing and get it done.”

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Lake Highland Prep tops Myrtle Beach to reach CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational championship."