MYRTLE BEACH — Sophomore Luke Kennard poured in a tournament-high 43 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Franklin (Ohio) on Saturday.
In the end, Kennard’s effort wasn’t enough and the Wildcats fell to Orem (Utah) 86-77. The Tigers were 24-for-44 (61.4) percent from the field.
“I thought our team played well together,” Kennard said. “That’s a tough team. They’re the defending state champs out of Utah, and right there I think we proved we can play with anybody in the country.”
Zach Hunsaker (21), Cooper Holt (18), Dalton Nixon (18), Jordan Darger (14) and Quinn Peters (13) scored in double-figures for Orem, which advanced to the consolation championship.
The Wildcats received help from Travis Lakins, who scored 20 points.
• OREM (86) – Zach Hunsaker 21, Cooper Holt 18, Dalton Nixon 18, Jordan Darger 14, Quinn Peters 13, Koel Cutler 2.
• FRANKLIN (77) – Travis Lakins 20, Luke Kennard 43, Evan Crowe 5, Jeff Pierce 6, Kraig Hill 3.
• Halftime: Franklin 40-39. 3-point goals: Orem 10 (Hunsaker 5, Holt 2, Nixon 2, Peters); Franklin 9 (Kennard 5, Lakins 2, Crowe, Hill). Team fouls: Orem 18, Franklin 24. Fouled out: Orem 1 (Hunsaker), Franklin 1 (Kennard). Technical fouls: None.
• Records: Orem 6-2, Franklin 6-2.
Consolation bracket
• St. James 60, Socastee 42 | Nehemiah Stafford had a game-high 15 points, TreDarius McCallum had 14 points and Matt Strange added 12 as the Sharks cruised to a win over the Braves.
The Sharks were 25-for-45 (55.6 percent) from the field, and outrebounded the Braves 28-17.
Socastee’s Will Caswell had a game-high 16 points and Dante Moore added 14 points, but no other Braves player scored more than three points.
• ST. JAMES (60) – TreDarius McCallum 14, Nehemiah Stafford 15, Matt Strange 12, Caleb Duggan 8, Haywood Brandon 3, Josh Roper 2, Dakota Holmes 2, Russ Sansbury 4.
SOCASTEE (42) – Dante Moore 14, Adarius McCray 2, Finn Melko 1, Will Caswell 16, Dakota Morgan 2, Erick Mortel 2, Devin Melko 3, Dylan Thompson 2.
• Halftime: St. James 24-14. 3-point goals: St. James 6 (Duggan 2, McCallum, Stafford, Strange, Brandon); Socastee 2 (Moore, Caswell). Team fouls: St. James 14, Socastee 11. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
• Records: St. James 8-4, Socastee 4-6.
• Rufus King (Wis.) 51, Wheeler (Ga.) 44 | Rufus King shot only 27.4 percent from the field but the Generals made eight 3-pointers en route to a win over Wheeler and secured a spot in the fifth-place game.
Rufus King forced 20 turnovers opposed to only nine of its own and the Generals outscored the Wildcats 21-7 in points off turnovers.
Austin Malone-Mitchell poured in a game-high 24 points and Chris Howell had 16 points to go along with 12 rebounds for Rufus King.
Trevin Steede had a team-high 10 points and Daniel Giddens had a game-high 16 rebounds for Wheeler.
• RUFUS KING (51) – Austin Malone-Mitchell 24, Jamell Posey 2, Chris Howell 16, Montrell Hobbs 2, Curtis Weathers 6, Greg Smith 1.
• WHEELER (44) – Daniel Giddens 8, Avery Patterson 8, Maleek Catchings 4, Trevin Steede 10, Nakahai Eastmond 6, Elijah Staley 2, Bilal Abdur-Rahim 6.
Halftime: Wheeler 28-21. 3-point goals: Rufus King 8 (Malone-Mitchell 5, Weathers 2, Howell); Wheeler 2 (Patterson, Steede). Team fouls: Rufus King 19, Wheeler 20. Fouled out: Rufus King 1 (Diamante Freeman). Technical fouls: None.
• Records: Rufus King 8-1, Wheeler 7-4.
• Bishop Gorman (Nev.) 67, St. Rita of Cascia (Ill.) 58 | Rashad Muhammad had a game-high 25 points, Noah Robotham had 15 points and the Gaels pulled away in the second half for a victory over the Mustangs to advance to the Fifth-place Game.
Trailing 33-29 at half, Bishop Gorman put on the burners and outscored St. Rita by 13 in the second half to secure the win.
Dominique Matthews had a team-high 22 points for the Mustangs.
• ST. RITA (58) – Charles Matthews 7, Victor Law 11, Scott Kingsley 7, Dominique Matthews 22, Myles Carter 7, Armani Chaney 4.
• BISHOP GORMAN (67) – Chase Jetter 6, Rashad Muhammad 25, Trey Kennedy 10, Noah Robotham 15, Stephen Zimmerman 8, Orr Leumi 3.
• Halftime: St. Rita 33-29. 3-point goals: St. Rita 4 (C. Matthews, Law, Kingsley, D. Matthews); Bishop Gorman 8 (Muhammad 5, Kennedy, Robotham, Leumi). Team fouls: St. Rita 17, Bishop Gorman 12. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
• Records: St. Rita 8-4, Bishop Gorman 13-2.
• Spring Valley 78, East Rutherford (N.C.) 67 | Dominique Taylor scored 19 of his game-high 29 points in the second half as he paced the Vikings to a win over the Cavaliers and secured a spot in the consolation championship.
Jabari Johnson (16), Perry Dozier Jr. (12) and Jordan Bruner (11) also finished with double-figure scoring for Spring Valley, which trailed 34-30 at halftime. The Vikings were 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) from the field in the second half and Spring Valley outscored East Rutherford 34-20 inside the paint during the contest.
Travis Waldroup-Rodrigue had a team-high 23 points for the Cavaliers and Rodric Ross added 17.
• EAST RUTHERFORD (67) – Devonte Boykins 5, Travis Waldroup-Rodrigue 23, T.J. Watkins 9, Roddric Ross 17, Benjamin Beckett 4, Donald Wilkins 6, Jarvis Hopper 3.
• SPRING VALLEY (78) – Steven Thomas 5, Dominique Taylor 29, Perry Dozier Jr. 12, Jordan Bruner 11, Jabari Johnson 16, Kenneth Legette 5.
• Halftime: East Rutherford 34-30. 3-point goals: East Rutherford 10 (Ross 5, Wilkins 2, Boykins, Watkins, Hopper); Spring Valley 6 (Dozier Jr. 2, Thomas, Taylor, Bruner, Legette). Team fouls: East Rutherford 21, Spring Valley 19. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
• Records: East Rutherford 10-3, Spring Valley 10-5.
