A pair of New England teams will meet tonight for the first-ever National Prep Championship.
Top-seeded Bridgton Academy (Maine) outlasted No. 4 Hargrave Military Academy (Va.) in double-overtime in the first semifinal on Wednesday night and Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) outlasted The Patterson School (N.C.), 89-75.
The two teams will square off tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at the University of District Columbia in what will finally determine the best team in the nation on the court.
Bridgton got 29 points from unsigned senior guard Greg Hill and a pair of players who are headed to St. John’s - big man Justin Burrell and wing Paris Horne – each added 21 in the 121-118 double-overtime victory.
Hargrave was led by Jordan Crawford (Indiana), who scored a game-high 37 points in the loss.
Hargrave had a chance to send the game into a third overtime, but missed a trio of 3-pointers on the final possession.
Local standout Michael Beasley (Kansas State) scored 29 points in the other semifinal to lead Notre Dame Prep into the championship game. Donte Roberts added 17 and Sedale Jones added 11 in the win.
``Patterson is very talented and it was a great win for us,” Notre Dame coach Bill Barton said. “The keys for us were controlling the defensive boards. Beasley, (Damian) Saunders and (Jamine) Peterson did a terrific job on the glass.”
Unsigned senior forward Tirrell Baines led Patterson with 25 while Seton Hall-bound guard Jeremy Hzell added 13.