Jamier Jones does not obey the laws of gravity.
On Wednesday night, Oak Ridge (Fla.) played the final game of the quarterfinal round, edging a tough Vashon (Mo.) squad. Minutes later, the 6-foot-6 junior put his windmill dunk to work, winning the Alaka‘i Slam Dunk Contest by jumping over two of his coaches in the final.
Thursday night, he ran the floor, finished fast breaks and followed shots with myriad slams as Oak Ridge overpowered DeMatha (Md.) 69-57. The Pioneers will play Christ the King for the championship of the ‘Iolani Prep Classic tonight.
“I trust in my team, in him (Jalen Reece) as my point guard. Let him do what he does,” said Jones, who scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half.
Reece finished with 16 points, connecting from 3-point range five times, including a buzzer-beater beyond halfcourt to end the third quarter. Cameron Simpson added 11 points, including three treys.
The battle within the game was highly watchable as Jones went head-to-head with DeMatha’s star, Malcolm Thomas.
“He’s a good player for sure,” Jones said. “We woke him up.”
Thomas erupted in the third quarter after his team trailed by 19. Thomas scored 14 of his 19 points after intermission. Ace Meeks added 10 points for the Stags.
Jones’ lethal attack on the offensive boards just about froze DeMatha. He had 16 points by halftime as Oak Ridge opened a 39-20 lead. Four of his buckets were on rim-rattling dunks.
The Stags brought much more energy in the second half. Thomas drained a tough turnaround baseline jumper, then sank a free throw to cut the lead to 16. After DeMatha’s Charles Thomas III flushed a missed layup by Jacob Wallace, Malcolm Thomas drove down the middle for a vicious throwdown, cutting the lead to 42-27.
Wallace’s corner 3 brought the margin down to 42-30 with 4:57 left in the third quarter. A tip-in by Malcolm Thomas made it a 10-point game.
Jones answered with a pull-up 3 from the top of the key to halt DeMatha’s momentum for a few seconds.
Wallace drove through the middle for a tough layup with four seconds left in the third, but Reece, the Oak Ridge point guard, pushed the ball upcourt and launched a shot before halfcourt, swishing a 53-footer at the buzzer. The Pioneers had a 54-41 lead entering the fourth quarter.
“They were coming back. Just win the game, that’s all it is, trying to win,” Reece said.
That was all the momentum DeMatha had, however, Oak Ridge’s Tyler Johnson hit a tough, contested baseline jumper with 2:11 left to keep the lead in double digits, 66-55.
Reece added two foul shots down the stretch to help preserve the lead.
“We just discussed to keep our heads and stay together. Never fall apart. Stay together as a team,” Reece said.
Christ the King (N.Y.) 74, St. John Bosco (Calif.) 71
Dwayne Pierce scored 17 points, including the go-ahead layup with 50.3 seconds left, as the Royals rallied for the semifinal win.
Center Qingfang Pang scored 30 points to lead Christ the King.
Kade Bonam led Bosco with 19 points, but his 22-foot try at the buzzer came up short. Brandon McCoy had 18 and Elzie Harrington scored 15. Jack Turner finished with 12 points.
The Braves opened the game with a 12-2 run, but the Royals rallied to get within 26-21 by the end of the first quarter.
The game stayed close the rest of the way. Pierce’s layup on an inbounds pass gave Christ the King a 72-71 lead with 50.3 seconds left.
Bosco had two chances to tie. The last was an open look by Bonam from straight away, but the shot grazed the front of the rim at the buzzer.
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Thursday
Saint Louis 50, Kamehameha-Maui 24.
Leading scorers—StL: Pupu Sepulona 16. KSM: Dylan Schnitzer 7.
Kaimuki 70, Kauai 55.
Leading scorers—Kaim: Daysen Lupica 24, Jeremiah White 22. Kauai: Josh Rego 21, Camren Holt-Ho 10.
Mililani 51, Kamehameha 43.
Leading scorers—Mil: Roman Gabriel 15, Timothy Dorn 13, LeCedric Brown 11. KS: Nahiku Nahale-a 11, Makai Barr 10.
Mid-Pacific 63, Moanalua 57.
Leading scorers—MPI: Darius Chizer 21, Logan Mason 14, Jacob Bow 10, Riley Miura 10. Moan: Austin Oguma 11, Gavin Pommerenk 11, Quincy Melville 10, Jahleel Small 10.
Vashon (Mo.) 83, The Master’s Academy (Fla.) 58.
Leading scorers—Vash: Jordyn Richard 15, Trey Williams Jr. 12, Christian Williams 12, Nassir Binion 10. TMA: Hunter Nickerson 19, Scott Verboncoeur 14, Dylan Labuhn 12.
Pace Academy (Ga.) 56, ‘Iolani 32.
Leading scorers—PA: Chandler Bing 14, Eric Chatfield 12, MJ Madison 11. Iol: Nela Taliauli 11.
Semifinals
Oak Ridge (Fla.) 69, DeMatha (Md.) 57.
Leading scorers—OR: Jamier Jones 21, Jalen Reece 21, Cameron Simpson 14.
DeM: Malcolm Thomas 21, Ashton “Ace” Meeks 10.
Christ the King (N.Y) 74, St. John Bosco (Calif.) 71
