Kentucky commits Boogie Fland, Travis Perry shine at City of Palms Classic
In the leadup to Christmas, high school basketball holiday tournaments and events took place all over the country last week. Arguably the biggest one of them all happened in Fort Myers, FL with the City of Palms Classic drawing in plenty of high-profile teams and recruits. In fact, a couple of future Kentucky Wildcats were actually in the Sunshine State to showcase their skills.
Four-star point guards Boogie Fland and Travis Perry led their respective teams down in Fort Myers and both played exceptionally well as individuals.
Starting with Fland, he dropped 23 points in his first outing of the event and then 25 more the very next day. The 6-foot-3 floor general connected on eight combined three-pointers in those two games and turned the ball over just once. Unfortunately, his team, Archbishop Stepniac (NY) lost both outings in blowout fashion. Stepinac lost to Montverde Academy (FL) 95-55 on Thursday and then 83-66 to IMG Academy (FL) on Friday — a pair of nationally-ranked opponents.
Fland scored at least 23 points in both games, but only once did one of his teammates hit double-figures in scoring.
As for Perry, the end results were more positive. The 6-foot-2 sharpshooter helped lead Lyon County (KY) to a 2-0 stretch in Florida with wins over Buckhorn (AL) and Lexington (SC). Lyon County won both outings by a combined 53 points with Perry serving as the standout.
Perry exploded for 40 points and 10 rebounds (15-22 FG; 7-11 3PT) in a 93-64 win over Buckhorn before dropping in 30 points (11-25 FG; 5-17 3PT) and eight rebounds in a 74-50 victory against Lexington. Lyon County (8-1) continues to hold down the No. 3 spot in KSR’s statewide rankings update with the team’s lone loss coming to Father Tolton (MO) in early December.
More from City of Palms Classic
Fland and Perry were the only Kentucky signees in action at the City of Palms Classic, but they certainly weren’t the only ones receiving Kentucky interest. A handful of the Wildcats’ top targets were also down in Florida for this event. Let’s find out how they performed.
VJ Edgecombe (SG) 6-4, 180 | Long Island Lutheran (Nassau, Bahamas)
5-star (’24): No. 5 overall, No. 2 CG
- VJ Edgecombe and Long Island Lutheran (NY) lost in the championship game to Montverde Academy (FL) on Saturday, 73-59. Edgecombe, who is closing in on a decision, still managed 20 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in the loss, shooting 8-22 from the floor and 2-9 from deep. Edgecombe played in four games at the City of Palms for Long Island Lutheran (3-1), averaging 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 29 minutes per game. He shot 46.7 percent from the field and 9-26 (34.6 percent) from long range.
Cameron Boozer (PF) 6-9, 205 | Christopher Columbus (Miami, FL)
5-star (’25): No. 2 overall, No. 1 PF
Cayden Boozer (PG) 6-3, 190 | Christopher Columbus (Miami, FL)
4-star (’25): No. 14 overall, No. 2 PG
- Twin brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer played just three games in this event for Columbus (FL), going 1-2 in those contests. The lone win came in a 73-38 blowout over Archbishop Ryan, while the two losses came against Link Academy (MO) and Don Bosco Prep (NJ). Cameron averaged 19.7 points and 11.3 rebounds in 29 minutes per game while shooting just under 56 percent from the floor and 5-11 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Cayden averaged 16 points, 6 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per outing (his biggest smudge was a 10-turnover performance in the final game). He shot just under 53 percent overall and went 4-9 from distance.
Darius Acuff (PG) 6-1, 175 | IMG Academy (Detroit, MI)
4-star (’25): No. 10 overall, No. 1 PG
- Darius Acuff and nationally-ranked IMG Academy (FL) posted a 2-2 record in this event, losing both games by a total of five points, one coming in overtime. Playing four games in four days, Acuff averaged 22.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in 28.8 minutes per game. He shot 45.5 percent overall from the floor and went 11-29 (37.9 percent) from distance.
Jasper Johnson (CG) 6-4, 170 | Link Academy (Lexington, KY)
4-star (’25): No. 12 overall, No. 1 CG
- Teaming up with class of 2024 five-star SG Tre Johnson, Jasper Johnson and Link Academy went 2-2 down in Florida. Johnson averaged 14.0 points per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 8-27 (29.6 percent) from long range. More notably, he told On3’s Joe Tipton that an official visit to Kentucky is in the works.
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