La Lumiere Captures Dick’s National Title
As the final seconds ticked away Senior Eduardo Maitin dribbled the ball down the court and threw it in the air as time expired… the La Lumiere Lakers were crowned National High School Champions. As warm-ups were happening you could tell boths teams were amped up and ready to go. Montverde was looking for their 4th ever National Championship, but as for La Lumiere they were looking for redemption after losing in last years finals to Oak Hill by just 2 points, 62-60. The crowd was electric and couldn't wait for this game to get going. In the early goings Montverde Sophomore, and #1 2019 recruit RJ Barrett had it going scoring 14 points in the first half and leading Montverde to a 28-27 lead at half. In the second half it was a different story. Brian Bowen turned it on, after scoring just 6 points in the first half he put up 11 in the second half surging the way to a 70-52 victory. Michigan State commit Jaren Jackson Jr also did work scoring 17 points and grabbing 5 boards. His teammate and Michigan commit Jordan Poole had two clutch threes in the second half to propel him to a 13 point game. Tyger Campbell also did his job scoring 10 points and dishing out 7 assists including a pretty lob to Jacob Epperson. As for Montverde Barrett finished with 25 points, and Cameron Healy added 9. I took away a lot of things from this game and this experience. One thing I took away from this game is how good RJ Barrett is. RJ Barrett is the real deal. You will hear this kids name on your TV in 3 years going to the Final Four or winning a National Championship or even getting Drafted. This kid is good. He put up 25 against a team with 5 good seniors and he didn't have a ton of help. You could tell he was upset after the game, but he never quit at any point during the game. Even when they were down and all the momentum was on the Laker side, he never quit. As for the Lakers well, they were National Champions. The question asked at this Dick’s National Tournament is “Who is the best High School team in the Nation?” Well we figured that out. It's the La Lumiere Lakers.
