Malcolm Thomas was a show-stopper on Tuesday.
Spin move in the lane, with a two-handed tomahawk jam. The 6-foot-8 senior scored 20 points and electrified the crowd — and his teammates — as DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) overwhelmed Mililani 80-43 on Tuesday night in the opening round of the ‘Iolani Prep Classic.
“I like our energy and effort. We had some good spurts defensively, played well, but had some lapses as well,” DeMatha coach Mike Jones said. “We tried to play everybody today. We know as the tournament progresses, the games get harder and harder. We’re looking forward to watching the game film and getting ready for the game tomorrow.”
Ashton “Ace” Meeks led the Stags with 23 points, including five 3-pointers. Jacob Wallace added 15 points.
LeCedric Brown paced Mililani with 13 points. Roman Gabriel added nine and Tim Dorn, Lauvai Pine and Davyn Joseph tallied seven points each.
DeMatha, one of the legendary prep basketball programs from the DMV area, will meet The Master’s Academy today in a 3:30 p.m. quarterfinal.
The Stags came to the islands 20th in the MaxPreps national rankings. Thomas powered the Stags to the title at the recent Newman Classic in New Orleans. The Villanova signee is the son of former NBA power forward Etan Thomas.
“I get a lot of my game from him. He’s the one who taught me how to play, so I bring a lot of tenacity,” Thomas said. “He played with energy and aggression. He taught me how to do the spin move and I kind of adapted it.”
Thomas’ adaption means he explodes off the spin and looks to dunk it every time up. That will be an interesting change of competition for The Master’s Academy, which hit 18 3-pointers in a win over Kaimuki on Tuesday. They use an extended 2-3 zone defensively.
“I’m excited to play. Great competition. Heard nothing but great things about them,” Thomas said. “Love playing against the best competition, so I’m excited. It’ll be a great basketball game.”
DeMatha’s length and strength stymied Mililani, but the Trojans found their footing and had some success getting open looks in the second half.
“We didn’t do a lot of things that good, but a lot of the reason is DeMatha is that good. We can do things better like getting out on 3-pointers, boxing out, especially a team with that kind of size,” Trojans coach Garrett Gabriel said. “It’s always good to handle that kind of pressure they bring. Usually the kids get in awe of how good these guys are. We settled down and if we can get past halfcourt and run some resemblance of an offense, I told them we’d be all right.”
Thomas was at another level.
“Those guys are awesome. He’s tough,” Gabriel said.
The Master’s Academy (Oviedo, Fla.) 89, Kaimuki 43
DeVaughn Stallworth pumped in 18 points to lead a balanced Eagles attack. Micah Taber scored 13, while Noah Rogers and Dylan Labuhn chipped in 10 points each.
Kaimuki kept it close early, trailing 11-10 in the first quarter before the Eagles’ festival of 3s started to peak. The Eagles drained eight 3-pointers in the first half to open a 45-21 lead. They added 10 more treys to finish with 18 trifectas in the contest.
Jeremiah White led Kaimuki with 20 points, including three treys. Daysen Lupica tallied 14.
The Master’s Academy will play DeMatha at 6 tonight in the quarterfinal round. Kaimuki will meet Kamehameha at 9 a.m. in a consolation-bracket game.
Vashon (Mo.) 91, Moanalua 30
Dehrio McCaskill and Nicholas Randall had 14 points apiece for Missouri’s three-time defending 4A champions. Nassir Binion added 12 points and Nic’Qwyon Kern had 11.
Austin Oguma led Na Menehune with. six points.
Vashon will meet Oak Ridge (Fla.).
Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) 107, Mid-Pacific 35
Jamier Jones, rated No. 11 overall in the class of 2025 by 24/7 Sports, scored 18 points as the Pioneers advanced. The 6-6 junior transfer from IMG Academy was especially dynamic on defense, finishing steals with powerful dunks.
Point guard Jalen Reece led all scorers with 22 points. Four more Pioneers scored in double figures: Amari Davis 11, Calvin Liptrot 11, Tyler Johnson 10 and Tim Winkler 10. Oak Ridge is No. 18 in the MaxPreps rankings.
Logan Mason led the Owls with 12 points.
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The Master’s Academy (Fla.) 89, Kaimuki 43.
Leading scorers—MA: DeVaughn Stallworth 18, Micah Taber 13, Noah Rogers 10, Dylan Labuhn 10. Kaim:Jeremiah White 20, Daysen Lupica 14.
Vashon (Mo.) 91, Moanalua 30.
Leading scorers—Vash: Dehrio McCaskill 14, Nicholas Randall 14, Nassir Binion 12, Nic’Qwyon Kern 11, Leon Powell Jr. 10. Moan: Austin Oguma 6.
DeMatha (Md.) 80, Mililani 48.
Leading scorers—DeM: Ashton “Ace” Meeks 23, Malcolm Thomas 20. Mil: LeCedric Brown 13.
Oak Ridge (Fla.) 107, Mid-Pacific 35.
Leading scorers—OR: Jalen Reece 22, Jamier Jones 18, Amari Davis 11, Calvin Liptrot 11, Tyler Johnson 10, Tim Winkler 10. MPI: Logan Mason 12.
