2023 New Years Classic Recap – Part 1

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">By Michael Wholey 1/16/23 5:00 PM EST</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><em>The 2023 New Years Classic powered by SUTS Report was hosted at St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Gibbons January 6-7, 2023.  The event attracted 40 of the state's top varsity and JV teams for the 2 day event including Montverde Academy, currently the # 1 team in the country out of Montverde, FL.  </em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Montverde Academy took on two of Florida's top teams, going up against Miami Country Day Friday night and St. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":583630,"width":258,"height":322,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/01/Chloe_Sotell_1_.jpg?w=819" alt="" class="wp-image-583630" width="258" height="322" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Thomas Aquinas Saturday night. &nbsp;Friday nights game vs Miami Country Day was a matchup of the # 1 and the # 2 teams in Florida according to&nbsp;<a href="http://maxpreps.com/">Maxpreps.com</a>. &nbsp;Montverde Academy featured a Senior class of all D1 signees with&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219934' first='Rusne' last='Augustinaite']</strong>&nbsp;(Georgia Tech),&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='245281' first='Cori' last='Allen']</strong>&nbsp;(Illinois),&nbsp;<strong>Jordy Griggs</strong>&nbsp;(Kentucky),&nbsp;<strong>Sahnya Jan</strong>&nbsp;(South Carolina),&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219933' first='Mjracle' last='Sheppard']</strong>&nbsp;(Mississippi State), and&nbsp;<strong>Lety Vasconcelos</strong>&nbsp;(Baylor). &nbsp;Montverde's size and strength were too much for Miami Country Day defeating them 69-39. With six D1 signees, it was 5'11 Junior&nbsp;<strong>Chloe Sotell&nbsp;</strong>that lead Montverde Academy in scoring with 14 points knocking down 4 3-pointers. &nbsp;For Miami Country Day, 6'1 Junior&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='217667' first='Kayla' last='Nelms']</strong>&nbsp;accounted for 25 of her teams 39 points playing inside out, knocking down 4 3-pointers while also finishing with 10 points in the paint. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":583628,"width":265,"height":335,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/01/Co-Karina-and-Reina.jpeg?w=810" alt="" class="wp-image-583628" width="265" height="335" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Saturday's Montverde Academy vs host team St. Thomas Aquinas was the events final game and turned out to be one of the best matchups of the event. &nbsp;The low scoring defensive battle was back and forth all night with St Thomas Aquinas trailing 7-5 after 1, 16-15 at half, 25-23 after 3 quarters, and fell to the # 1 team in the country 35-34. &nbsp;Mississippi State signee&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219933' first='Mjracle' last='Sheppard']</strong>&nbsp;was the teams leading scorer (10 points) as well as the teams emotional leader, controlling the tempo of the game from tip off to buzzer. &nbsp;For St. Thomas Aquinas, Senior&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='91641' first='Karina' last='Gordon']</strong>&nbsp;(East Carolina signee) led the Raiders with 22 points. &nbsp;Trailing by 3 points with 10 seconds to go, St. Thomas Aquinas called timeout and head coach&nbsp;<strong>Oliver Berens</strong>&nbsp;drew up a play for a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime. &nbsp;Montverde did an exceptional job covering up all the outside shooters, and with no one open Junior&nbsp;<strong>Mya Johnson</strong>&nbsp;attacked the rim, looking to get contact and scored the basket but did not draw the foul and the Raiders lost by one in a hard fought battle. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":583632,"width":293,"height":431,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/01/Tamara-Elliot-Western.jpeg?w=696" alt="" class="wp-image-583632" width="293" height="431" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">Friday nights top game at Cardinal Gibbons was a thriller with Western High School defeating Seminole Ridge 52-51. The game was back and forth all night with Western jumping out in front with points in the paint from Junior&nbsp;<strong>Keylee Allen</strong>&nbsp;and Sophomore&nbsp;<strong>Maddison Manragh</strong>. &nbsp;Seminole Ridge was committed to bringing pressure and climbed back into the game, taking lead in the 3rrd quarter after trailing 29-23 at half time. &nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='248412' first='Janiah' last='Suprius']</strong>&nbsp;was Seminole Ridge leading scoring making plays off the dribble and attacking the rim. &nbsp;But it was 5'5 Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='244210' first='Tamara' last='Elliott']</strong>&nbsp;for Western who paced the Wildcats to victory, finishing as the teams leading scorer with 17 points including 3 first half 3-pointers. &nbsp;The games final play was decided at the free throw line, with Seminole Ridge trailing by 3 52-49 with seconds to go. Seminole Ridge attacked the rim, scoring the basket and drawing the foul &nbsp;but couldn't convert the free throw to send the game to overtime, ultimately giving Western the 52-51 win. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Some of the events high scorers were:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='572864' first='Emely' last='Rodriguez']&nbsp;</strong>(Horeb Christian) - 34 Points vs St. Thomas Aquinas&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='91641' first='Karina' last='Gordon']&nbsp;</strong>(St. Thomas Aquinas) - 30 Points vs Horeb Christian&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='221697' first='Peyton' last='Looky']</strong>&nbsp;(Cypress Bay) - 26 Points vs Palmetto&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='400753' first='Lynn' last='Reith']</strong>&nbsp;(Holy Trinity) - 25 Points vs Miami Christian&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Brooke Carlson</strong>&nbsp;(Batavia) - 25 Points vs Somerset Silver Palms&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='217667' first='Kayla' last='Nelms']</strong>&nbsp;(Miami Country Day) - 25 Points vs Montverde Academy&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Jim'Miyah Branton</strong>&nbsp;(SLAM! Miami Academy) - 25 Points vs Western&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Emma Smith&nbsp;</strong>(St. Andrews) - 25 Points vs North Miami</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='426379' first='Shanaii' last='Gamble']</strong>&nbsp;(Somerset Academy Silver Palms) - 24 Points vs Seminole Ridge&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='243916' first='Victoria' last='Valle']&nbsp;</strong>(Somerset Silver Palms) - 24 Points vs Seminole Ridge&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='243882' first='Jocelyn' last='Gagnon']</strong>&nbsp;(Somerset Prep) - 22 Points vs Doral Academy&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='146970' first='Sofia' last='Travieso']</strong>&nbsp;(Carrollton School) - 22 Points vs Cypress Bay&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Karina Gordo</strong>n (St. Thomas Aquinas) - 22 Points vs Montverde Academy&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='572864' first='Emely' last='Rodriguez']</strong>&nbsp;(Horeb Christian) - 21 Points vs Miami Country Day</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='515779' first='Joelle' last='Wilson']&nbsp;</strong>(Miami Senior HS) - 21 Points vs Westminster Academy&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='243895' first='Lena' last='Girardi']</strong>&nbsp;(Westminster Academy) - 21 Points vs Miami Senior High School&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219942' first='Reina' last='Green']&nbsp;</strong>(St. Thomas Aquinas) - 21 Points vs Horeb Christian</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Michael Wholey</strong> is the lead scout for Florida Prep Girls Hoop Florida and a former division one Assistant Coach at American University, University of Memphis, and Georgia Tech.&nbsp; Wholey and the rest of the Prep Girls Hoop staff, seek to cover the entire state of player, keeping subscribers up to date with player evaluations, recruiting info, and statewide news.&nbsp; Our audience often supplies us with some of our best information.&nbsp; If you have any information on players, teams, or statewide news in the state of Florida, emailing Michael Wholey at <a href="mailto:WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com">WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com</a> or DM him through Twitter or Instagram @WholeyPrepHoops.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->