Cody Goggin

Glendale (MO) vs. Wasatch Academy (UT)

Monty Johal of Glendale, who became the Springfield Public Schools all-time scoring leader last week by passing former NFL wide-receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, continued his scoring ways on Friday night, exploding for 30 points, five rebounds, and six assists. He couldn’t carry the Falcons all the way to the consolation game though as he got his shot blocked with a few seconds left in a tie game before this happened:

Tre Williams III, a junior with offers from schools such as Georgia Tech, led the way for Wasatch with 20 points while Damion Squire, including his final shot ended with 13 and California commit Matt Bradley added 13 of his own.

Christ the King (NY)  vs. Ozark (MO)

In the second game of the night, the Christ the King Royals would be taking on the hometown Ozark Tigers. We had another close one from JQH as this one was competitive throughout. Christ the King held a 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter before extending it to 27-23 at the half. After a big third quarter, Ozark got the last laugh when they outscored the Royals 27-18 in the fourth quarter to take home the 69-61 victory. The game ended on an exclamation point as Ozark star Quinn Nelson scored his 27th point of the night on a full court inbound pass that resulted in a wide open dunk:

Nelson led all scorers by putting up 27 points and eight rebounds, going 5-12 from three and 6-6 from the charity stripe. Payton Nichols added another 20 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers.

For the second night in a row, star recruit Kofi Cockburn, the #34 junior in the country according to ESPN, disapointed, putting up only seven points and seven rebounds. Tyson Walker and Ryan Meyers led the team with 22 and 16 respectively. My favorite player from last night, Mousse Cisse, did not show up in the same capacity tonight, going 1-4 from the field for three points.

Christ the King will play Glendale tomorrow afternoon in the 7th place game. Ozark and Wasatch will match up for the consolation game.

La Lumiere (IN) vs. Brentwood Academy (TN)

The stars sure came out for this one tonight. Isaiah Stewart, #32 in the Rivals 150 as junior, absolutely dominated. Brentwood did not have anyone on the inside to guard him as he bullied them all night long to the tune of 35 points and 13 rebounds. Also for La Lumiere, Tyger Campbell () had nine assists and Charles Smith IV, the #54 junior according to ESPN, was the only other Laker scorer in double digits with 13. Stewart was the most dominant player I’ve seen in the tournament thus far and should be a heralded recruit come his senior year. Stewart currently holds an offer from Syracuse and the 24/7 Crystal Ball predicts that he will end up at Duke. I wouldn’t be surprised if the junior shot up in the recruiting rankings next season based on what I saw tonight.

On the other side, the highest ranked recruit in this tournament, Darius Garland, carried the Eagles all night long, keeping them within striking distance up until the very end. The Vanderbilt commit and son of the Missouri State legend Winston Garland went on a run at one point, scoring 20 points in a row for the Eagles en route to his 37 tallies for the evening. Garland has an impressive shooting stroke to go alone with his quick handles that should serve him well as one of the SEC’s premier point guards for the next few seasons.

Despite Garland’s best efforts, Brentwood just didn’t have enough to beat La Lumiere, dropping this one by a score of 63-51.

Oak Hill (VA) vs Webster Groves (MO)

To end the night, we got to see one of the top teams in the country in Oak Hill face off against what is probably the best team in the state of Missouri, the Webster Groves Statesmen. This game pitted multiple highly touted recruits for Oak Hill against Courtney Ramey and Carte’Are Gordon, the two highest ranked players in the state. The best players showed out in this one too, as evidenced by this windmill dunk from Keyontae Johnson dunk and a David McCormack alley oop.

Kentucky commit Keldon Johnson led the Warriors with 23 points. David McCormack, who will be heading to Lawrence, Kansas next year, compiled a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Oak Hill point guard and future Oregon Duck Will Richardson added on 18 points and led the team with his seven assists. The star power of Oak Hill was too much for the Statesmen to handle, despite the efforts of Ramey (23 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) and Gordon (18 points, 6 rebounds), and the Warriors went on to extend their undefeated streak by a score of 73-62.

Saturday Night

There’s something for everyone on Saturday. The Glendale-Christ the King game will pit Springfield’s best against a couple of D1 big men, really testing the Royals’ size against the Falcons’ guards Monty Johal and Jordan Walton. That will be followed by Wasatch Academy, coming off of that big buzzer-beater win, against the Ozark Tigers. The best individual matchups will be in the winner’s bracket. If you like guard play, make sure to tune in for Courtney Ramey and Webster Groves facing off against Darius Garland and Brentwood. These are two top-flight guards that know how to rack up points. If you prefer post play, make sure you watch the gargantuans bully each other in the paint for the championship when David McCormack of Oak Hill and Isaiah Stewart of La Lumiere clash. That championship is sure to be a physical one, but I expect Oak Hill to come out on top to win their third ToC in four years.

The championship game is a spectacle to see and you can watch it on CBSSN at 10 ET/9 CT tonight.