Inside Day 3 of the 37th Beach Ball Classic

▪ Scoring machine: Through two games, no one has offered anything in the way of resistance for Cox Mill (N.C.) standout Wendell Moore Jr. Already listed among the top prospects in the Class of 2019, he further validated the notion with a 32-point performance Thursday to lead his team to a win over Clark (Nev.). The scoring total is the highest posted thus far by any player. His 61 total points through two games is also the high mark for the tournament.

▪ Highlight reel: Montverde Academy (Fla.) standout R.J. Barrett promised a show, and he certainly offered one Thursday night in his team’s rout of Socastee. On multiple occasions, his numerous dunks — and other attempts he missed — brought fans in attendance to their feet. He finished with 23 points in the game on 10-of-19 shooting.

▪ Number crunching: Montverde topped the 100-point mark for the second time in the past three years, both coming against Socastee. The 101-38 win marked the 12th 100-point team performance in Beach Ball history, with five of those coming against the Braves, and the 63-point margin of victory is the third largest in tournament history. Montverde’s 78-point win over Socastee in 2015 is the largest, and Pleasure Ridge Park (Ky.) scored the most points in tournament history with 120 against Socastee in 1989.

▪ Game of the day: In a game featuring quality programs Bishop Gorman (Nev.) and Lone Peak (Utah) in the loser’s bracket, the game was tied with four minutes remaining before Bishop Gorman scored the final nine points for a 66-57 win. The contest featured eight ties and six lead changes.

▪ On the horizon: The tournament is down to the semifinals. Following five earlier games beginning at 10:15 a.m. Friday, the first semifinal at 7 p.m. features Cox Mill (N.C.) and Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.), and the second semifinal at 8:45 pits DeMatha Catholic (Md.) against Montverde Academy (Fla.), a pair of teams ranked in the top 20 in USA Today’s Super 25.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 11:15 PM with the headline "Inside Day 3 of the 37th Beach Ball Classic."