A roundup of the fourth day of the 2025 City of Palms Classic at Suncoast Arena in Fort Myers.
All-SEC dunk contest provides fireworks, McNamara’s Duran repeats as 3-point champ
A lot went down Sunday evening inside Suncoast Credit Union Arena following Montverde’s upset of Prolific Prep, as the fireworks were on full display in the City of Palms Classic dunk contest.
The dunk final was an all-SEC clash between Arkansas signee Abdou Toure from Notre Dame (Conn.) and Ole Miss signee Jaron Saulsberry of Wheeler (Ga.). Toure edged out Saulsberry, who was unable to put down a second dunk after scoring a 48 on his first attempt.
“This day has been great,” said Toure, who scored a 99 of 100 possible points. “Waking up every morning, just getting ready, getting prepared for the championship game. This dunk contest, I was literally in the middle of a haircut. I barely got to warm up, and I still won. I guess I got bunnies or something like that.”
Toure was an All-Tournament selection after posting the third-highest scoring average in the 52-year history of the tournament, averaging 39 points per game in wins over a pair of Florida powers in Olympia and St. Thomas Aquinas.
The 3-point contest saw a familiar face come away with the trophy, as Bishop McNamara’s Kirby Duran took home the trophy for the second year in a row. In 2022 and 2023, Paul VI standout Darren Harris also went back-to-back, making it two winners over the previous four years.
“It was a great experience,” Duran said. “I’m blessed. It was a great opportunity. I get to come out here, lock in, and shoot two times in a row. A lot of people aren’t in this position that I’m in.
“You look at this time, you only get this once in your life. This is four years. I love these guys, man.”
City of Palms inducts four into Hall of Fame
The City of Palms Classic also inducted its third Hall of Fame class, which included Los Angeles Westchester star and former NBA standout Trevor Ariza, Ariza’s coach at Westchester, Ed Azzam, Flint Hill (Va.) star Randolph Childress, and Donny Overholser, a longtime staple of the tournament during its time at Bishop Verot.
Ariza was instrumental in leading Westchester to back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001, and was a longtime staple in the NBA for 18 seasons, helping the Rockets win 65 games during the 2017-18 campaign. Azzam’s a three-time winner of the City of Palms Classic, winning in 2000, 2001, and 2003 and finished 20-3 all-time in the tournament, winning 16 in a row at one point. Childress had arguably the greatest shot in City of Palms history in 1989, sinking a 3-pointer at the buzzer in a triple overtime clash with Brooklyn Lincoln, helping Flint Hill secure the title that year.
Overholser was a mainstay of the tournament for nearly 25 years, serving as the namesake and operator of Donny O’s Backcourt Cafe, a popular staple when the tournament was held on Sunrise Drive.
“We had a great run at Bishop Verot High School for 22 years,” Overholser said. “There were so many more people involved. We used approximately 300 volunteers over the last six to eight years of this tournament. We’re very, very grateful to be a part of the tournament for so many years. We had a great time at Bishop Verot.”
Montverde stuns national power Prolific Prep in Signature Series championship
Montverde Academy 78, Prolific Prep 73: Montverde’s magic at the City of Palms Classic never fails to come through in the biggest moments.
Taking on what many considered to be the No. 1 team in the country, the Eagles hung around despite being down two top 50 seniors in 5-star Lincoln Cosby and Northwestern commit Jayden Hodge, upsetting the Crew 78-73.
“Just watching a young group of men who are respecting and trusting the process,” Montverde coach Steve Turner said. “We said it from the beginning, we’re a brand new team. Everything’s new. The coach, a whole new lineup, trying to figure things out. I think people doubted us because of the way we started the season.
“But I knew if this team just trusted and worked together, we would grow in the right in the right times. Tonight was a little culmination of that. We’re gonna have ebbs and flows. This is an opportunity for them to realize if they keep doing the things we’re asking them to do, chip at it little by little, these are the things that can happen for them throughout the year.
The fireworks were evident early, as 5-star guard Caleb Holt slammed home a one-handed dunk to put Prolific on the board. After that though, it was a relatively tough time for the Crew, which had to burn a pair of timeouts four minutes into the contest down 11-5.
Montverde’s Javion Tyndale had a tough bucket for Montverde, converting the and-1 opportunity to take a 20-11 lead, before it ballooned to a 25-13 margin after eight minutes. Tyndale finished with 16 points and a team-high 6 assists, not coming off the floor once.
Montverde kept pouring it on in the second quarter, taking a 39-23 lead after a Oneal Delancy triple. Prolific gathered momentum after a Bruce Branch dunk, but Holt received a technical just moments later. At the half, Montverde led 45-31 after a tough layup from Miller.
The two sides traded three consecutive 3-pointers, with Branch, Miller, and Holt all getting in on the action. Miller took advantage of an out-of-bounds play, inbounding and nailing a corner trey to retake a double-digit lead at 58-47.
A 7-0 Prolific run kept the Eagles off the scoreboard for much of the final few minutes of the third, only trailing 58-54 entering the fourth quarter.
Tyndale opened the fourth quarter with five straight points before the Crew started to claw back multiple times, getting within a point but never able to take the lead. Up one, Delancy uncorked a step back three, all nylon to take a 70-66 lead.
“That’s a big-time player, Oneal Delancy,” Montverde 4-star forward Joe Philon said. “That’s the type of shot we’re gonna love from him. That’s what he does. He’s a scorer, he’s a ballplayer, he’s a dog. We’re gonna love that shot from him every time, make or miss, shot clock winding down. We love that shot from him.”
Down 74-70, Ohio State commit Alex Smith nailed a contested trey to get the Crew within one, but weren’t able to get a turnover they needed to force overtime or win the game.
Holt led all scorers with 24 points, while Dhani Miller had 21 for Montverde, which had five in double figures, led by Tyndale with 16, Philon with 14, Delancy with 12, and Derek Daniels with 10. In the loss, Bruce Branch III had 16 for Prolific, followed by Nasir Anderson with 10.
The Eagles will all but surely move up in national rankings, looking to build momentum heading into the new year in hopes of peaking down the stretch.
“I think it allows our guys to believe in the things we’re trying to get them to understand for us to be as a team,” Turner said. “And then to do it without two top 30 players. Jayden Hodge goes out the first minute of the game down here, and Lincoln Crosby got injured in practice right before we got here.
“To do it without two of those guys who we know are going to give us unbelievable minutes when they get back. The other guys were ready to step up because we keep saying, next man up. Somebody goes down, you’ve got to be ready to step up for your brother, and I thought our guys did that.”
Verot’s Bryan Broomhead’s stellar first half rockets Vikings to High Thimlar win
Bishop Verot 75, Barron Collier 54: Bishop Verot used a dominant second-quarter to make it three-for-three in the City of Palms Classic Hugh Thimlar Tribute game.Barron Collier (5-6) held the lead through the first eight minutes with its ability to shoot around the 3-point line from Jaden Judd and Kasyn Touchette. However, momentum shifted when the Vikings started to find the paint towards the end of the first quarter.Vikings’ guard Bryan Broomhead was at the head of this change with back-to-back 3-pointers and a layup, going 4-of-6 to open the second quarter. Forwards Juliux Calixte and Dee Fletcher complemented Broomhead’s scoring run with success in the paint, with a combined 7 rebounds and 2 blocks for 13 points.
“He started for us last year on a great team, and he’s a four-year varsity player, and we talked about him just trying to become the best point guard in Southwest Florida,” Bishop Verot coach Matt Herting said. “He did a really good job of doing what he can do.
Although Bishop Verot (4-3) went into halftime with a 33-30 lead, a 14-4 scoring run to open the second half was all the team needed to solidify its Hugh Thimlar Tribute trophy.
Calixte and Fletcher overwhelmed the Cougars’ offense, forcing them to miss several shots with their size. Combine this with forward Mark Brazley and Broomhead’s resurgence in the fourth quarter, and the game proved to be too much for the Cougars to overcome. All four Vikings ended the game with double-digit point totals.
— Jeffrey Hrunka
Notre Dame captures Sunshine Series title over St. Thomas Aquinas
Notre Dame (Conn.) 72, St. Thomas Aquinas 62: Arkansas signee Abdou Toure couldn’t be stopped Sunday afternoon against the Raiders, going for 37 points and 11 rebounds in a double-digit win over St. Thomas Aquinas.
The Raiders held a 36-35 halftime lead, thanks in part to 14-of-30 shooting from the floor. The second half was a totally different story, as St. Thomas shot 9-of-25 from the field while Notre Dame shot 49.2 percent from the field for the duration of the contest.
In the loss for St. Thomas, Clarence Westbrook Jr. went for 25 on 10 for 22 shooting. Nate Accius and Kellson Sandi each finished with 10 points.
CIA-Bella Vista secures Signature Series third-place over Gillion
CIA-Bella Vista (Ariz.) 85, Gillion Academy (Va.) 64: Led by West Virginia signee Miles Sadler, the Bears had five players finish in double figures in an 85-64 win.
Sadler led CIA-Bella Vista with 25 points, with Lyris Robinson adding 14 points. Indiana commit Vaughn Karvala scored 13, and Paul Osaruyi and West Virginia commit Aloiu Dioum each had 12.
Florida State commit Marcis Ponder had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Gillion.
James Nowells’ game-high 32 points propel Olympia
Olympia 71, Victory Christian 56: Victory Christian had trouble stopping James Nowells Sunday morning, as the junior guard erupted for 32 points to secure third place in the Sunshine Series.
Nowells’ success translated across the entire floor, as the Titans (9-2) scored 46 second-half points to pull away from the Storm, which were held to under 30 percent from the field in the fourth quarter.
In the win for Olympia, Bishop Wenze added 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds, while Christian Fuller and Tucker Fox scored 19 and 17, respectively, for Victory Christian.
Monday’s City of Palms Schedule
11 a.m. – Game 26: Consolation Semifinal: Imhotep Charter (Pa.) vs. Columbus
12:40 p.m. – Game 27: Consolation Semifinal: Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) vs. Bishop McNamara (Md.)
2:20 p.m. – Game 28: Fifth-Place Semifinal: Petersburg (Va.) vs. Calvary Christian
4 p.m. – Game 29: Fifth-Place Semifinal: The Villages vs. Wheeler (Ga.)
6:30 p.m. – Game 30: Semifinal: Principia (Mo.) vs. Paul VI (Va.)
8:30 p.m. – Game 31: Semifinal: Bartlett (Tenn.) vs. Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.)
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: City of Palms dunk contest, Montverde stuns Prolific Prep, Verot wins Thimlar
Reporting by Ed Reed and Alex Martin, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
