Montverde Academy beats Sunrise Christian for fifth GEICO Nationals title

Montverde Academy and Sunrise Christian Academy were widely considered the two best high school basketball teams in the country throughout this season.

The debate over who the top dog was settled Saturday when the two met again in the GEICO Nationals on Saturday, as Montverde came out on top. Powered by a third quarter in which it drained its first nine field goal attempts, Montverde Academy notched a 62-52 win over Sunrise Christian for its fifth GEICO Nationals championship.

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Montverde led by just two points at the end of the first half, but grew its lead to as large as 20 points in the third. Sunrise Christian refused to go away and cut Montverde’s lead to single-digits with two and a half minutes remaining, but 3-pointers by Creighton signee Ryan Nembhard and Michigan signee Caleb Houstan with under two minutes left were the daggers. Nembhard finished with 12 points on three 3-pointers and seven assists, earning Player of the Game recognition.

Montverde nearly missed out on the chance to play for a GEICO Nationals title, but survived AZ Compass Prep in the final seconds on Friday thanks to a tip-in with 17 seconds remaining.