Recapping the 2023 GEICO High School National Championship

By Michael Wholey 4/7/23 8:00 AM EST   Montverde Academy won the championship with Long Island Lutheran finishing runner up and McDonough School and Westtown School rounding out the top 4 field in Fort Myers.    Montverde Academy (FL)   Tournament History: Second appearance, Champion in 2022   Head Coach: Special Jennings   Nationally Ranked Players: [player_tooltip player_id='188326' first='Letycia' last='Vasconcelos'] (Baylor), [player_tooltip player_id='142823' first='Sahnya' last='Jah'] (South Carolina), [player_tooltip player_id='219933' first='Mjracle' last='Sheppard']; [player_tooltip player_id='434911' first='Vivian' last='Iwuchukwu']     Long Island Lutheran High School (NY)   Tournament History: First appearance   Coach: Christina Raiti   Nationally Ranked Players: Kateryna Koval, [player_tooltip player_id='413855' first='Kayleigh' last='Heckel']     McDonogh School (MD) 24-3   Tournament History: First appearance   Coach: Brad Rees   Nationally Ranked Players: Kennedy Umeh, Autumn Fleary     Westtown School (PA) 21-4   Tournament History: First appearance   Coach: Fran Burbidge   Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='406494' first='Grace' last='Sundback'], [player_tooltip player_id='1004315' first='Jordyn' last='Palmer']     Semi Finals – Montverde (58) v Westtown School (51)     <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/12/Cori-Allen-Montverde.jpg?w=555" alt="" class="wp-image-572875" width="148" height="274" /></figure>   Illinois signee [player_tooltip player_id='245281' first='Cori' last='Allen'] took over the game in the second half with the game on the line for Montverde Academy.  With the game on the line and leading by 4, Allen converted a three-point play to seal the victory 58-51 in the semi-finals and advance Montverde Academy to the championship game.  Allen finished with a game high 16 points on 6/8 shooting and 3/ 5 from 3 to go along with 6 rebounds.   While [player_tooltip player_id='245281' first='Cori' last='Allen'] led her team in scoring, [player_tooltip player_id='142823' first='Sahnya' last='Jah'], a South Carolina signee scored 14 points, doing most of her damage in the paint and getting to the free throw line often, converting 10/12 from the foul line awhile point guard [player_tooltip player_id='219933' first='Mjracle' last='Sheppard'] added 13 points and 7 assists.   For Westtown School, the Moose had four in double digits: [player_tooltip player_id='1004315' first='Jordyn' last='Palmer'] 16 points, [player_tooltip player_id='406494' first='Grace' last='Sundback'] 15 points, Jessie Moses 10 point, and Savannah Curry 10 points.     <blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-medium-font-size"> “They just went on a late run in the first half and kept it going in the third quarter. That's when I called timeout and challenged the girls. ‘Do you want to go home or want to make a game of it.' We cut it to two points in the fourth quarter and I thought we had a chance. But they [Montverde] are a national team and I thought it was a great opportunity for our team. We had a great experience here.” <cite>Fran Burbridge - Westtown School Head Coach </cite></blockquote>     Semi Finals – McDonough (65) v Long Island Lutheran (76)   <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/04/fbjcwa5sw0elsefx7yey.webp?w=525" alt="" class="wp-image-632007" width="158" height="205" /></figure>   Katie Koval stole the show in the semifinal's vs Long Island Lutheran vs McDonough School.  She finished with 38 points and 16 rebounds, and her points were the most in the history of the GEICO Nationals since its inception in 2008.   Coming off a New York State Federation Class AA title last weekend, Long Island Lutheran 76-65, to advance to Saturday's championship game against Monteverde (FL) Academy improving LuHi's record to 21-2.   At 6'4 Koval was too much for the scrappy McDonough School to handle.  Her height helped her dominant the smaller and perimeter player dominant team McDonough.  Accounting for more than 50% of her teams points, Koval dropped 18 points in the first half and another 20 points in the second half on 16/21 from the field and 6/7 from the free throw line.    In the win, Sylva Swords added 13 points and 6 assists to go along with Kova's dominant performance while McDonough was led by Ava McKennie who scored a team-high 17 to go along with 9 rebounds while teammates Autumn Fleary and Paris Locke scored 16 points each.  But in the end it was the points in the paint and Kova's performance that were too much with LuHi outscoring McDonough 46-30 and Koval accounting for 38 of her teams 76 points.    <blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-medium-font-size"> “We came out slow today. We couldn't guard and thankfully we had Katie here. We absolutely knew was a height mismatch and wanted to take advantage of it." <cite>LuHi Head Coach Christina Raiti </cite></blockquote>     Championship Game – Montverde v Long Island Lutheran   Down 14 at half, Montverde picked up the defensive pressure and intensity and stormed back and outscored LuHi by 20 points 40-20 in the 2nd half to pull out the victory 60-54 and claim the 2023 GEICO High School Nationals Championship and claim their 2nd consecutive title as the # 1 high school team in the country and concluding their season with a 26-1 record!   [player_tooltip player_id='142823' first='Sahnya' last='Jah'] was the star and the difference maker, scoring 15 points in the second half and finish with game high 20 points.  The South Carolina signee was dominant in all areas of the court and just the spark that Montverde needed to stage the comeback.    <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/01/5I5A6447-crop-3778x2481-1673835484.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-583152" width="295" height="194" /></figure>   While Jah did it on the interior, [player_tooltip player_id='245281' first='Cori' last='Allen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='219934' first='Rusne' last='Augustinaite'] did it on the perimeter knocking down five 2nd half 3-pointers with Allen recording a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.    Over the last 11 minutes Montverde outscored McDonough 40-18 connecting on 8/12 from the field and 2/2 from the 3-point line.  LuHi's [player_tooltip player_id='413855' first='Kayleigh' last='Heckel'] led her team in scoring with 17 points, while Savannah Swords added 12 points and sister [player_tooltip player_id='857368' first='Syla' last='Swords'] finished with 8 points and 9 rebounds. While Montverde was extremely efficient from the offensive end of the floor but LuHi went cold in the second half going 2/16 from the field and 0/6 from 3.      All-Tournament Team   [player_tooltip player_id='142823' first='Sahnya' last='Jah'] (Montverde Academy) - MVP   [player_tooltip player_id='245281' first='Cori' last='Allen'] (Montverde Academy)   Ava McKennie (McDonogh School)   [player_tooltip player_id='1004315' first='Jordyn' last='Palmer'] (Westtown School)   Kate Kowal (Long Island Lutheran)     Michael Wholey 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.  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.  Our audience often supplies us with some of our best information.  If you have any information on players, teams, or statewide news in the state of Florida, emailing Michael Wholey at WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com or DM him through Twitter or Instagram @WholeyPrepHoops.

By Michael Wholey 4/7/23 8:00 AM EST