Beach Ball Classic Roundup: Teams from S.C. and D.C. will meet in the championship game
Senior Myles Tate recorded 16 points, 13 assists and five steals to help Dorman reach the 39th Beach Ball Classic championship game with an 83-66 win over St. Francis (Ga.) on Monday night at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
Dorman (11-1), which pulled away with an 18-6 run over the final 6 minutes, will have a chance Tuesday to become the first South Carolina team to win the Beach Ball since Eau Claire in 1986.
“It’s going to be a great experience in the championship game against a great opponent, so we’re going to get some rest and we’re going to try to do what we do,” Tate said. “It has been a great experience to play in front of these people.”
Tate, a Butler signee, came within three assists of the Beach Ball record 16 assists in a game set by Richie Farmer of Clay County (Kentucky) in 1987.
“I always want to make the right basketball play, but getting my teammates involved before myself is always a priority of mine being a point guard,” Tate said.
Dorman senior forward Justin Amadi scored a game-high 24 points and senior Clemson signee P.J. Hall had 17 points and seven rebounds. Xavier signee Dwon Odom paced St. Francis with 22 points and hit all three 3-point attempts.
Both teams, which are reigning state champions, shot better than 53 percent for the game.
▪ St. John’s 53, Long Island Lutheran 51: The Cadets of D.C. never trailed and held on late to advance to the championship game. Rhode Island commitment Ishmael Leggett, a 6-4 senior guard, paced St. John’s with 17 points and added five rebounds.
“It would mean a ton for the program,” St. John’s coach Patrick Behan said. “This tournament is one of the best in the country. The tradition is here, everyone knows about it.”
Long Island Lutheran (8-2), the tournament’s highest-ranked team at No. 15 in the MaxPreps top 25, got 15 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, three steals and nine turnovers from point guard and Illinois signee Andre Curbelo. St. John’s (11-0) led by 11 with 2:20 to play before Lutheran ended the game with a 15-6 run.
“It was a great win, good for the program,” Behan said. “I think all three wins so far have been really good: different challenges, different tests. Our kids have responded well each day and we’ve got one more opportunity tomorrow to try to close it out.”
▪ Baltimore Poly 71, Millennium 51: Xavier commitment Justin Lewis recorded 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead Poly to a berth in Tuesday’s fifth-place game. Brandon Murray scored 19 and Rahim Ali 16 points for Poly. Heavily-recruited junior forward DaRon Holmes had nine points and 12 rebounds for Millennium, and Justus Jackson and Robby Devries added 12 points each.
▪ Coronado 71, Whitney Young 70: Jaden Hardy, the No. 6 rated junior in the nation by ESPN, tallied 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead Coronado into the fifth-place game. Duke signee D.J. Steward scored 27 points for Whitney Young.
▪ University 85, Morgan Park 80, 2OT: Kaden Metheny, who has signed with Bowling Green, led University with 31 points while K.J. McClurg added 24 points and 10 rebounds. Illinois signee Adam Miller of Morgan Park led all scorers with 41 points and added 10 rebounds in the consolation bracket game.
▪ Izard County 70, St. Thomas Catholic 52: Coby Everett scored 24 points and Arkansas-Fort Smith commitment Justus Cooper added 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead Izard County into the consolation bracket championship game. Maddox Kopp had 23 points and 13 rebounds for St. Thomas.
▪ Harvard Westlake 72, Myrtle Beach 40: The nationally-ranked Wolverines (13-1) got 14 points and 18 rebounds from Princeton signee Mason Hooks to advance to Tuesday’s consolation championship. Charleston Southern commitment Emorie Knox paced Myrtle Beach (7-3) with 19 points.
▪ Buchtel 47, Socastee 46: The Braves cut a 10-point deficit with 6 minutes left to a point with a 9-0 run on four combined baskets by Mike Herrin and Cameron Spain. But a pair of free throws by Buchtel’s Martel Perkins with 15 seconds remaining allowed Buchtel to withstand a late Zaire Goodman basket. Herrin scored 17 points and Spain 13 for Socastee (1-9), while Justice Lane had 10 points for Buchtel.
Scores, schedule
Thursday
Game 1 – Dorman (SC) 72, Buchtel (OH) 45
Game 2 – Whitney Young (IL) 71, St. Thomas Catholic (TX) 60
Game 3 – St. Francis (GA) 73, Izard County (AR) 64
Game 4 – Coronado (NV) 73, Socastee (SC) 35
Friday
Game 5 – St. Thomas 53, Buchtel 29
Game 6 – Izard County 77, Socastee 41
Game 7 – Baltimore Poly (MD) 56, Harvard Westlake (CA) 46
Game 8 – St . Johns (DC) 65, Morgan Park (IL) 60
Game 9 – Millennium (AZ) 65, University (WV) 63
Game 10 – Long Island Lutheran (NY) 77, Myrtle Beach (SC) 44
Saturday
Game 11 – Harvard Westlake 59, Morgan Park 53
Game 12 – Myrtle Beach 79, University 73
Game 13 – Dorman 59, Whitney Young 56
Game 14 – St. Francis 81, Coronado 77
Game 15 – St . John’s 62, Baltimore Poly 56
Game 16 – Long Island Lutheran 66, Millennium 41
Sunday
Dunk and 3-point contests
Monday
Game 17 – Buchtel 47, Socastee 46
Game 18 – University 85, Morgan Park 80, 2OT
Game 19 – Izard County 70, St. Thomas 52
Game 20 – Harvard Westlake 72, Myrtle Beach 40
Game 21 – Coronado 71, Whitney Young 70
Game 22 – Baltimore Poly 71, Millennium 51
Game 23 (Semifinals) – Dorman 83, St. Francis 66
Game 24 (Semifinals) – St. John’s 53, Long Island Lutheran 51
Tuesday
Game 25 – Socastee vs Morgan Park (Played at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center), 9:30 a.m.
Game 26 – Whitney Young vs Millennium, 8:30 a.m.
Game 27 – Buchtel vs University, 10:15 a.m.
Game 28 – St. Thomas vs Myrtle Beach, noon
Consolation Championship: Izard County vs Harvard Westlake, 1:45 p.m.
Fifth Place: Coronado vs Baltimore Poly, 3:30 p.m.
Third Place: St. Francis vs Long Island Lutheran, 5:30 p.m.
Championship: Dorman vs St. John’s, 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 11:37 PM.
