While there was more of a focus on local teams on day three, a number of players certainly saw their stock rise at the City of Palms Tourney:

Darius Acuff Jr., 6’2, PG, IMG Academy (FL), 2025
While Acuff Jr. is already a very highly touted player, performances like the one he had against back to back defending state champion Richmond Heights are what will lock him up as a McDonald’s All American and put him right there as the top point guard in class of 2025. Always known for his scoring prowess, Acuff Jr. was a one-man press break, killed defenders with his change of speed, and was a more than willing facilitator. His 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists (I think that number was a tad low) in a mere 21 minutes don’t even begin to tell the story of the impact that he had on the game. The son of former Eastern Kentucky guard Darius Acuff already has had a storied career, leading Detroit Cass Tech to their first ever state title as a sophomore last season.

Caleb Holt, 6’6, SG/SF, Buckhorn HS (AL), 2026
It’s hard to say that a player ranked in the top-5 by everyone nationally raised his stock, but given the fact that many haven’t seen Holt at the national level, he certainly did. Holt’s family has been very adamant about slowing down the process and focused on development rather than exposure early in his career since I first saw him at the varsity level as an eighth grader. The explosive athlete was a catalyst for Buckhorn, finished above the rim in transition, and defended virtually every position to tune of 21 points and eight rebounds in limited minutes.

Kayden Mingo, 6’1, PG, Long Island Lutheran (NY), 2025
While scoring machine VJ Edgecombe certainly paced the way, Mingo was the catalyst for Long Island Lutheran’s two quality wins thus far at City of Palms. The heady lead guard is leading EYBL Scholastic League in scoring, is an absolute blur in transition, and picked up a Wake Forest offer today with his play. Posting averages of 17 points and five steals per game, Mingo certainly solidified himself as a high major point guard this week.

Travis Perry, 6’2, PG, Lyon County High School (KY), 2024
Kentucky’s all-time leading scorer certainly showed that he could hold his own against elite competition, dropping 30 points against future McDonald’s All American Cam Scott at City of Palms. The volume shooter is an extremely confident 3-point shooter (especially in transition), is a nice rebounder from the backcourt, and has super quick hands as an on ball defender. Perry surprised many with his commitment to Kentucky as they jumped in his recruitment relatively late, but the Big Blue Nation has certainly welcomed him with open arms.

Jeremy Wilson, 6’5, PF, Richmond Heights HS (OH), 2024
There are some dudes who have no fear no matter who they play, and Wilson was that guy against national power IMG Academy at City of Palms. Wilson had no problem mixing it up in the paint, was Richmond Heights’ best interior defender, and showed some versatility on the offensive end. While not a name nationally, Wilson is certainly an impact player for Ohio’s back-to-back defending state champions.

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Related:?Day One Raw Footage?| Day Two Raw Footage

The City of Palms Classic will feature 10 teams currently ranked in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com. Burlison gives some perspective on the tournament and predicts a Montverde Academy (Fla.) vs. Chaminade (Mo.) championship final. Montverde Academy is the top-ranked team in the FAB 50, while Chaminade checks in at No. 12.

No. 9 Chino Hills (Calif.), which could meet Montverde Academy in the City of Palms quarterfinals, is one of three FAB 50-ranked teams along with three bubble teams participating at the Maxpreps Holiday Classic. It could be a Chino Hills vs. No. 32 Moreau Catholic (Calif.) semifinals in the desert, with the winner potentially taking on No. 22 Bentonville (Ark.) in the open division championship final.

Bentonville lost last week on the road to Chaminade.

Look for exclusive www.ebooksnet.com content and video from both holiday tournaments.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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By Ronnie Flores

Just as the ink was drying on last week's FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com, newly-crowned No. 1 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) was preparing to take its home floor versus Huntington Prep (Huntington, W. Va.) in the biggest game of the young season so far.

Had the Eagles lost, it would have opened up the floodgates in terms of deserving teams for the nation's No. 1 ranking. The Fightin' Irish gave Montverde Academy all it could handle before falling, 63-59, in a game televised on ESPN2.

Six-foot-6 freshman R.J. Barrett had his national coming out party and helped Montverde Academy retain its No. 1 FAB 50 ranking by nailing four consecutive free throws in the final 16 seconds after Huntington Prep had a chance to tie the game on its possession before Barrett was intentionally sent to the line for first time. The Canadian transplant's first two made the score 61-57 in favor of Montverde Academy before Huntington Prep standout forward Miles Bridges made two of his own with 7.8 seconds remaining. Barett, whom Montverde Academy coach Kevin Boyle was recently quoted as saying is already the program's second or third best player at worst, then sealed the win in the closing seconds. He finished with 18 points and four rebounds.

Had Huntington Prep pulled out the game, the No. 1 rating might have been up for grabs because No. 2 Roman Catholic needed overtime to capture the championship of the Gonzaga D.C. Classic on Sunday at American University. Host Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) gave the Cahillites all it could handle and tied the game on a tip-in basket by Prentiss Hubb with approximately 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

Roman Catholic was just a bit too strong on the boards and pulled away for a 77-72 victory. Lamar Stevens, headed for Penn State, led the Cahillites with 32 points. In the semifinals, the Cahillites defeated Good Counsel (Onley, Md.), 72-60, and easily knocked off Calvin Coolidge (Washington, D.C.), 90-41, in the opening round, as senior guard Nazeer Bostick, like Stevens headed for Penn State, netted 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field.

Because of the quality of its opponent and its big games coming up, we decided to keep Roman No. 2. As for Gonzaga, it actually moved up four sports in this week's FAB 50 to No. 30.

In another big game over the weekend, the highest-ranked team with one loss, No. 12 Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.), downed previous No. 16 Bentonville (Bentonville, Ark.), 76-57, in an electric game played at Chaminade's home gym. The game was a battle between two serious Mr. Basketball USA candidates: Duke-bound Jayson Tatum and Kentucky-bound Malik Monk.

After Bentonville won at home last year, Tatum got revenge of sports with a spectacular 40-point, 17-rebound performance that locals will be talking about for years to come. On Friday night, Monk broke his own school scoring record by netting 53 points and finished with 36 points versus Chaminade, including seven 3-pointers.

Chaminade's victory drops Bentonville six spots in this week's FAB 50 to No. 22 and also hurts Mustang (Mustang, Okla.), which lost to Bentonville to open its season. The defending Oklahoma Class 5A state champs drop four spots in the FAB 50 to No. 29 despite not losing last week.

There are five newcomers this week, including No. 47 Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), which won the Freetaxusa.com Shootout in Orem, Utah with a 73-71 win over bubble club Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.). Duke-bound Frank Jackson netted 38 points in the victory, while UConn-bound Alterique Gilbert went for 37 points in a losing effort that had the whole gym buzzing. Lone Peak also defeated Fremont (Los Angeles, Calif.) 90-55 and bubble club Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 68-65 earlier in the tournament.

Looking Ahead

Montverde Academy and Chaminade will be among the nine FAB 50-ranked teams participating in the The City of Palms Tournament in Ft. Myers, Fla., Dec. 18-23.

The first round matchups are: The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) vs. No. 44 High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.); Lehigh Senior (Fla.)-Father Tolton (Mo.) winner vs. No. 16 Westerville South (Westerville, Ohio); Spain Park (Hoover, Ala.) vs. No. 1 Montverde Academy; No. 9 Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) vs. Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.); No. 39 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) vs. Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.); No. 12 Chaminade vs. Bartow (Bartow, Fla.), No. 38 West Linn (West Linn, Ore.) vs. No. 15 Norland (Miami, Fla.); No. 14 The Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.), bye.

The way the bracket is set, Montverde Academy could meet No. 9 Chino Hills in the second round.

Because that tournament overlaps two weeks and because the major post-Christmas tournaments will begin on a Saturday, our next FAB 50 installment will be the first Monday of calendar year 2016.

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
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(Second poll of the 2015-16 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, December 13; Last week's ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included)

Dropped Out: Previous No. 19 Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.), No. 30 Westfield (Chantilly, Va.), No. 37 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.); No. 38 Advanced Prep International (Dallas, Texas), No. 41 Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.).

Bubble Teams: Advanced Prep International (Dallas, Texas) 8-4; American Fork (American Fork, Utah) 4-0; Beecher (Flint, Mich.) 3-1; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 4-1; Bowling Green (Bowling Green, Ky.) 5-0; Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach, Va.) 3-0; Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 4-1; Centennial (Las Vegas, Nev.) 6-1; Columbus (Columbus, Miss.) 7-2; Corona Del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.) 3-1; Davis (Houston, Texas) 13-0; De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 3-0; DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas) 11-1; East English Village Prep (Detroit, Mich.) 1-1; Edmond North (Edmond, Okla.) 5-0; Evelyn Mack (Charlotte, N.C.) 11-2; Fenwick (Fenwick, Ill.) 7-0; Folsom (Folsom, Calif.) 5-0; Garfield Heights (Garfield Heights, Ohio) 4-0; Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 10-2; Hammond (Columbia, S.C.) 6-0; Iona Prep (New Rochelle, N.Y.) 4-1; Iowa City West (Iowa City, Iowa) 3-1; J.O. Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) 8-2; Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas) 8-2; Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 4-1; Meridian (Meridian, Miss.) 10-1; Merrillville (Merrillville, Ind.) 4-0; Mesa (Mesa, Ariz.) 8-0; Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) 7-2; Mt. Vernon (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.) 1-0; National Christian Academy (Ft. Washington, Md.) 4-0; Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 6-1; Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 4-1; North Crowley (Fort Worth, Texas) 10-1; Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.) 6-2; Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) 4-0; Overland (Aurora, Colo.) 3-0; Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) 4-2; Queens High School of Teaching (Queens, N.Y.) 5-1; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 5-0; Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) 8-0; St. Raymond's (Bronx, N.Y.) 4-1; St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) 1-1; Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) 5-2; Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 7-1; Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 9-1; Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.) 8-1; Westfield (Chantilly, Va.) 1-2; West Oaks Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 6-1; Wise (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 1-1.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by www.ebooksnet.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 16 years ago.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

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