KSR's live thread of GEICO Nationals (Day One)

Jack PIlgrimby:Jack Pilgrim•03/31/22

High school basketball season ends this week in Ft. Myers, FL, as the 2022 GEICO Nationals tipped off this afternoon and will run through Saturday afternoon.

Down to just eight teams — Sunrise Christian (1), IMG Academy (2), Montverde Academy (3), Link Academy (4), Oak Hill Academy (5), AZ Compass (6), La Lumiere (7) and Prolific Prep (8) make up the field — the quarterfinals take place Thursday, followed by the semifinals Friday and championship Saturday. It’s a loaded field featuring the nation’s best individual and group talent high school basketball has to offer.

The complete bracket can be found below:

Included in that loaded field? Familiar faces for the Kentucky basketball program, including one future Wildcat, potential recruits, former targets, and rival signees.

Participating 2022 On3 Consensus Top 50

Participating 2023 On3 Consensus Top 50

Kentucky signee Chris Livingston saw his high school career come to a close in the opening round of GEICO Nationals, with No. 5 seed Oak Hill falling to No. 4 seed Link Academy by a final score of 81-64.

The future Wildcat finished with 12 points (5-13 FG, 1-3 3PT, 1-3 FT), five rebounds, two blocks, two steals and one assist in 32 minutes in the loss. He got off to a strong start, asserting himself and scoring an efficient nine points in the first half. After the break, though, Oak Hill’s guards dominated the touches and failed to set clean looks up for Livingston. He was virtually a non-factor in the second half.

Instead, Arkansas signee Jordan Walsh took over, finishing with a game-high 23 points on 9-10 FG to go with eight rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block. Livingston was the best player on the floor to open the game, but the future Razorback took over after intermission and never looked back.

Elsewhere, Oak Hill guard and Duke commit Caleb Foster shot just 5-17 from the field and an abysmal 1-10 from three in the loss. It’s yet another poor showing for the shoot-first guard, who does more harm than good on the floor when his shot isn’t falling.

No. 3 Montverde Academy 72, No. 6 AZ Compass 63

It was a back-and-forth outing between the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds, with Montverde pulling away late to defeat AZ Compass by a final score of 72-63.

Malik Reneau led the way for Montverde, finishing with a game-high 19 points on 7-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes of action. Texas signee Dillon Mitchell added 14, followed by Jalen Hood-Schfino (Indiana) and Dariq Whitehead (Duke) finishing with 12 points apiece. Purdue commit Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn rounded out double-digit scorers with 10 points.

Kentucky target and five-star junior KJ Evans — No. 2 in the 2023 On3 Consensus — finished with five points (1-7 FG, 0-2 FG, 3-4 FT), six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two turnovers in 22 minutes of action. Evans picked up an offer from John Calipari back in November.

Former Kentucky signee Skyy Clark is out of GEICO Nationals due to a hand injury, ending his high school career.

AZ Compass forward Mookie Cook finished with just two points (1-3 FG), four rebounds, three assists and one turnover in 22 minutes of action, dealing with foul trouble. The 6-foot-7 wing is expected to commit to Oregon on Thursday, choosing the Ducks over Kentucky, Gonzaga and the pro route. He is also a serious reclass candidate.

Arizona commit Kylan Boswell and Auburn commit Chance Westry led Compass with 13 points apiece, followed by Vanderbilt pledge Colin Smith with nine.

Kentucky target Adrame Diongue, who included the Wildcats in his final five in March, finished with two points (0-1 FG, 2-2 FT), five rebounds, one block and one steal in 17 minutes.

No. 2 IMG Academy 76, No. 7 La Lumiere 51

No. 2 seed IMG Academy looked the part to open the tournament, dismantling No. 7 seed La Lumiere in the quarterfinals.

Five-star prospects Keyonte George (Baylor) and Jarace Walker (Houston) — two former Kentucky targets — put forth brilliant performances, combining for 55 points in the blowout win. Walker led the way with 23 points (10-14 FG, 1-1 3PT), seven rebounds, five blocks, four assists and two steals, with George right behind with 22 points (8-12 FG, 4-6 3PT), eight rebounds and five assists in the win. Uncommitted four-star forward Eric Dailey added 17 points and six rebounds.

As a team, IMG shot an impressive 55.8% from the field, 50% from three and 75% from the line.

For La Lumiere, Ryan Mabrey led the team with 15 points (6-10 FG), followed by Taj Manning with 14 points and nine rebounds. The team’s trio of lead guards, Aden Holloway, Jeremy Fears and J.J. Starling, combined for just 13 points on 5-29 shooting overall.

The team shot just 30% from the field and 26.9% from three in the loss.

No. 8 Prolific Prep 59, No. 1 Sunrise Christian 56

Down two McDonald’s All-Americans, a hampered Prolific Prep squad made sure there would be no chalk Final Four in this tournament.

In what is already being called the biggest upset in GEICO Nationals history, which first began in 2009, the eight-seeded Prolific Prep Academy (CA) pulled off an impressive win over top-seeded Sunrise Christian Academy (KS)in the final game of the day. A clutch 3-pointer with under 10 seconds left from Prolific sophomore Zion Sensley was enough to push them into the semifinal round for a matchup against No. 4 Link Academy on Friday afternoon.

Prolific was without five-star UCLA commit Adem Bona and five-star Kansas commit MJ Rice, who were both dealing with knee injuries that held them out of the 2022 McDonald’s All-American Game, which took place earlier this week.

As a result, Prolific turned to new Oregon State class of 2022 three-star commit Jordan Pope, who exploded for 23 points on 8-17 shooting, including a 5-12 mark from distance. Class of 2022 four-star USC commit Tre White added a crucial 17 points, seven rebounds, and four assists for Prolific.

Sunrise Christian received a quality effort from class of 2022 Duke commit Mark Mitchell, who went for 15 points and eight rebounds. However, his fellow McDonald’s All-American, Kansas commit Gradey Dick, struggled throughout the night, shooting 1-10 from the field for just five points in 30 minutes of action. SCA was powered by 16 points from junior forward Scotty Middleton, who finished 5-8 from the field and perfect 4-4 from deep.

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Semifinals officially set for Friday

2:30 PM EST | ESPN2 – No. 3 Montverde Academy (FL) vs. No. 2 IMG Academy (FL)
4:30 PM EST | ESPN2 – No. 4 Link Academy (MO) vs. No. 8 Prolific Prep (CA)

Championship
Saturday, Noon EST | ESPN – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

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