GIECO Nationals: Preview the 4 girls basketball teams competing for the championship

Preview the GEICO Nationals girls basketball tournament featuring McDonogh, Long Island Lutheran, Westtown and Montverde.

Four of the best girls basketball teams in the country, including the top two teams in MaxPreps’ rankings, will be displaying their prowess at the GEICO Nationals this week.

McDonogh (Md.), Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.), Westtown (Penn.) and Montverde Academy (Fla.) will vie for the prestigious championship on March 31 and April 1, with the opening games taking place on Friday.

Between those four teams, nine players are ranked on ESPN’s lists for the classes of 2023 and 2024.

Here is a quick rundown of the teams ahead of the game action.

Find the GEICO Nationals schedule here. Read the boys GEICO Nationals basketball tournament preview here.

GIECO Nationals: Preview the 8 boys basketball teams competing for the championship

With the GIECO Nationals boys basketball tournament approaching, get a preview of the eight teams competing for the championship.

The GEICO Nationals boys basketball tournament is set for another star-studded showdown between some of the best teams in the nation. Between the eight teams competing, there are 71 players listed on 247Sports’ recruiting rankings, which averages out to the entire starting lineup, plus at least a few guys coming off the bench.

The eight teams who will compete are Paul VI (Va.), Link Academy (Mo.), IMG Academy (Fla.), Prolific Prep (Calif.), AZ Compass Prep (Ariz.), Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.), Sunrise Christian (Kan.) and Montverde (Fla.).

To get you up to speed before the prestigious tournament, here is a quick rundown of each team. The quarterfinals tip off on Thursday at noon.

Find the GIECO Nationals schedule here.

GEICO Nationals boys and girls basketball schedule

See the schedules, times and how to watch the GEICO Nationals boys and girls basketball tournaments from March 30 – April 1.

The GEICO Nationals are set to begin this week as eight boys high school basketball teams and four girls high school basketball teams will compete to dictate the respective champions of the prestigious tournament.

Over 10 games from Thursday through Saturday, dozens of highly ranked prospects will play in games televised on ESPNU and ESPN2, with the boys championship scheduled for ESPN.

The eight boys teams playing are Paul VI (Va.), Link Academy (Mo.), IMG Academy (Fla.), Prolific Prep (Calif.), AZ Compass (Ariz.), Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.), Sunrise Christian (Kan.) and Montverde (Fla.).

The four girls teams are McDonogh (Md.), Long Island Lutheran, Westtown (Penn.) and Montverde.

Here is the schedule. All times listed in Eastern.

Back to Back: Montverde Academy beats Link Academy to defend GEICO Nationals title

Montverde Academy defended its GEICO Nationals crown with a 60-49 win over Link Academy.

Montverde Academy defended its GEICO Nationals crown on Saturday afternoon, knocking off Link Academy by a final score of 60-49 for its second straight title.

The championship is Montverde Academy’s sixth under legendary head coach Kevin Boyle. Montverde Academy’s girl’s team won the girl’s GEICO Nationals earlier on Saturday, making it a clean sweep for the school.

Five-star Texas signee Dillon Mitchell and Malik Reneau led the way with double-doubles. Mitchell finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while the uncommitted Reneau registered 14 points and 12 rebounds en route to the win.

“It’s exciting,” Reneau told ESPN postgame. “We came through a lot of ups and downs early in the season. We thought everything was going downhill. We really picked it up and you can see it right now. We won a national championship.”

Five-star Duke signee Dariq Whitehead didn’t dominate as he did in the semifinals against IMG Academy, but managed to impact the game in a multitude of ways — especially as a distributor. Montverde Academy assisted on 16 of its 24 made field goals with Whitehead functioning as its primary facilitator.

Link Academy started strong and made things difficult on Montverde Academy in the first half. Montverde got in a groove in the second half, though, and quickly put the game away down the stretch to add to its jam-packed trophy case.

“It came down to who wants it more,” Mitchell said. “The whole game I was telling them, ‘This is our last game of high school basketball. Last 16 minutes. Give it all we got.’ So, we went out there and fought.”

2022 GEICO High School Basketball Nationals: Boys and Girls brackets are set

Top programs and talent will compete at the prestigious basketball tournament.

College fan bases and teams aren’t the only ones getting excited this week over brackets—now that the fields have been set, much of the high school-hardwood buzz shifts focus to the 2022 GEICO Nationals.

Eight boys teams and five girls teams will compete in the bracket-style tournament, beginning March 31 at Suncoast Credit Union Arena (Fort Meyers, Fla.). And as expected, both fields are loaded with talent for the tip-off, which keeps up with the longstanding distinction the tourney has showcased since its inception in 2009.

Here’s a look at the seeds for both brackets.

Latest Boys Super 25:

USA TODAY Sports Super 25 high school basketball rankings

Westlake throttles Paul VI to win Girls GEICO Nationals title

Westlake dominated Paul VI to the tune of a 20-point win en route to its first GEICO Nationals title.

Raven Johnson has been the driving force behind Westlake’s dominance throughout this year’s high school basketball season, but she’s not the only player Westlake has that can explode for a big game on any given night.

That was on full display in the GEICO Nationals championship game Friday, as junior guard Ta’Niya Latson poured in 31 points on nine of 16 shooting to lead Westlake to a 70-50 over Paul VI. Latson played a major role in Westlake reaching the championship game, scoring 26 points in a 64-54 semifinal win over Freemont High School.

Johnson, a South Carolina signee and the reigning Naismith Player of the Year added 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, while Virginia Tech signee Brianna Turnage spearheaded Westlake’s defensive dominance with 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven rebounds.

Paul VI entered the title game fresh off an upset over Lake Highland Prep, but fell victim to Westlake’s dominant trio. Westlake strung together a 17-4 second quarter and led 37-22 at halftime. Paul VI failed to cut into Westlake’s lead in the second half and Westlake ultimately cruised to a 20-point win.

Westlake finishes its season a perfect 22-0 after navigating a GEICO Nationals field that combined to go 75-0 during the regular season. Westlake is also the first Georgia high school to ever win the event.

Montverde Academy beats Sunrise Christian for fifth GEICO Nationals title

Montverde notched its fifth GEICO Nationals title Saturday with a 62-52 win over Sunrise Christian Academy.

Montverde Academy and Sunrise Christian Academy were widely considered the two best high school basketball teams in the country throughout this season.

The debate over who the top dog was settled Saturday when the two met again in the GEICO Nationals on Saturday, as Montverde came out on top. Powered by a third quarter in which it drained its first nine field goal attempts, Montverde Academy notched a 62-52 win over Sunrise Christian for its fifth GEICO Nationals championship.

Montverde led by just two points at the end of the first half, but grew its lead to as large as 20 points in the third. Sunrise Christian refused to go away and cut Montverde’s lead to single-digits with two and a half minutes remaining, but 3-pointers by Creighton signee Ryan Nembhard and Michigan signee Caleb Houstan with under two minutes left were the daggers. Nembhard finished with 12 points on three 3-pointers and seven assists, earning Player of the Game recognition.

Montverde nearly missed out on the chance to play for a GEICO Nationals title, but survived AZ Compass Prep in the final seconds on Friday thanks to a tip-in with 17 seconds remaining.

Boys Basketball: Top four seeds advance to GEICO Nationals semifinals

No. 1 Montverde Academy, No. 2 AZ Compass Prep, No. 3 Sunrise Christian and No. 4 IMG Academy are playing in Friday’s semifinals.

The boys’ side of the GEICO Nationals is down to four teams.

No. 1 Montverde (Fla.) Montverde Academy, No. 2 Chandler (Ariz.) AZ Compass Prep, No. 3 Bel Aire (Kan.) Sunrise Christian Academy and No. 4 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy all took take of business in the quarterfinals to advance to Friday’s semifinals. IMG Academy is slated to play Sunrise Christian Academy at 2:30 p.m. ET, while Montverde Academy takes on AZ Compass Prep at 4:30 p.m. ET.

The winner of both games will meet in the finals on Saturday.

Three of Thursday’s four quarterfinal matchups were nailbiters. Montverde Academy cruised to an 85-64 win over Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill, but AZ Compass Prep, Sunrise Christian Academy and IMG Academy won their quarterfinal games by a combined 11 points.

AZ Compass Prep fended off Wasatch Academy behind 22 points and 10 rebounds from TyTy Washington. AZ Compass Prep shot just 5-23 in the first half, but fired at a 50% clip in the second. Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep gave Sunrise Christian Academy a run for its money, but a dunk from Zach Clemence with 35 seconds left secured a 56-55 win for the Kansas prep school. IMG Academy, the defending GEICO national champions, led wire-to-wire in its win over Milton (Ga.) High School, but Milton battled back from 17 points down to its lead to one with 1:25 remaining before IMG Academy pulled away for a 73-68 win

Semifinal action of the GEICO Nationals semifinals can be watched on ESPN2.