La Lumiere rolls to Chick-fil-A Classic title

La Lumiere came into the Chick-fil-A Classic as the top-ranked team in the country and left that way.

Michigan State signee Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 20 points and had nine rebounds as the Lakers defeated Keenan, 77-58, in the National Division Championship game.

“We are very privileged and honored to come down here and it was a great event,” La Lumiere coach Shane Heirman said. “I thought our guys competed all tournament long. We had some lulls where we could have been better but I’m proud of the way we competed.”

Michigan signee Jordan Poole and Brian “Tugs” Bowen added 18 for the Lakers, who led 31-18 at halftime. Bowen, the No. 13 ranked player in the country, was named the National Division MVP for the tournament after averaging 19 points in the three games.

The 6-foot-8 senior is one of five consensus top 100 players for their classification on the roster for La Lumiere, a prep school located in La Porte, Ind. The Classic was the next stop in their challenging schedule, which will take the Lakers to South Dakota, West Virginia and a matchup with No. 2 Sierra Canyon in the next few weeks.

“It is a together group and it is not always easy to do with a lot of egos and personalities from different parts of the country,” Heirman said. “It’s team above everything. They continue to buy into us, the school and academics. Nobody is bigger than the program and they bought into it and I like where we were at.”

Keenan was looking to become the second straight Columbia team to win the Classic title, following Hammond’s victory last year over Greenforest. But the Raiders, who knocked off A.C. Flora and Spartanburg Day to reach the final, ran into a buzz saw from the Lakers and suffered their first loss of the season. Keenan (8-1) was the last unbeaten boys team in the Midlands.

The Raiders struggled with the Lakers size. La Lumiere started three players. Who are 6-foot-8 or taller, while Keenan didn’t play anyone over 6-foot-4.

“I think we got wore down with the size,” Keenan coach Zach Norris said. “We might left a little bit on the court last night with Zion Williamson but that is no excuse. They got a real good team and I could see why they are No. 1 in the country.”

Still, Norris said there are plenty of positives he was able to take from this game for the rest of the season. Keenan will take part in the Farm Bureau Classic next and take on host Dorman in the first round Wednesday. The Raiders might get a second crack at Spartanburg Day in the next round.

“They didn’t give up and fought to the very end,” Norris said. “I really think this will help us mature and play into our roles.”

Senior Tariq Simmons led Keenan with 22 points and was named to the all-tournament team.

La Lumiere scored the first eight points of the game but Keenan managed to stay within striking distance in the first half and Latrell Taylor’s dunk got the Raiders within 23-14. The Lakers put the game away early in the second half as Jackson Jr. scored the first five points to push the lead to 36-19.

Wheeler (Ga.) 64, John Carroll (Md.) 53

Louisville signee Darius Perry scored 15 points as Wheeler won the American Division championship.

Perry, who won the 3-point contest Tuesday and was named American Division Most Outstanding Player, was 3-of-3 from 3-point range and Wheeler was 9-of-14 from there as a team.

Brandon Younger added 14, and Jordan Tucker added 13.

Wheeler’s EJ Montgomery, an Auburn commit, was named the American Division MVP.

Montez Mathis led John Carroll with 25.

Blythewood 67, Lafayette Christian (La.) 51

Trey Jackson and Robert Braswell led four Blythewood players in double figures as the Bengals won the third-place game of the American Division.

Jackson led the way with 15, and Braswell added 14 and eight rebounds. Keith Matthews and Khalil Shakir-Harris each added 10 for the Bengals, who went 2-1 in the tournament and will play in the Pepsi Classic at West Florence next week.

Blythewood (8-3) led for most of the game and were up by 21 points at one point. The Bengals outrebounded Lafayette Christian 42-22.

Greensboro Day (NC) 54, Gray Collegiate 49

JP Moorman came close to a triple-double as Greensboro Day (17-1) defeated Gray Collegiate in fifth place game of the National Division.

Moorman, a Temple signee, scored 14 points, had eight rebounds and seven assists in the victory.

Gray Collegiate (4-5) made it interesting in the second half and cut the lead to 44-41 on Jalek Felton’s three-point play with 6:25 left. The War Eagles had a chance to cut within one but missed a layup and Pierce Landry came down and hit a 3-pointer to make it a 47-41 lead.

Juwan Gary led Gray Collegiate with 15 points and nine rebounds. Felton had 13.

Oldsmar Christian (Fla.) 64, A.C. Flora 59

D.J. Mitchell scored 31 points and Oldsmar bounced back from a rough shooting first half to defeat the Falcons.

Oldsmar shot 57.7 percent in second half after just 30.8 in the opening half.

Christian Brown led A.C. Flora (4-7) with 21 points, and James Reese had 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Falcons went 0-3 in the tournament and dropped to 4-7.

This story was originally published December 23, 2016 at 11:23 PM with the headline "La Lumiere rolls to Chick-fil-A Classic title."