Long Island Lutheran loses to Columbus at Hoophall Classic in battle of star-powered teams
Columbus' Jase Richardson ,left, defends against Long Island Lutheran's Kayden Mingo during the Spalding Hoopball Classic on Saturday in Springfield, Mass. Credit: Newsday/Hans Pennink
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Dozens of videographers lined the Blake Arena baselines with lenses pointed at the five-star recruits from the Long Island Lutheran and Christopher Columbus High School boys’ basketball teams.
Though unheralded Lutheran junior point guard Kayden Mingo stole the show for a while Saturday evening at the Spalding Hoophall Classic, it was the two sets of brothers — Cameron and Cayden Boozer and Jase and Jaxon Richardson, the sons of former NBA stars Carlos Boozer and Jason Richardson — who dominated in the second half to pull away for an 81-62 victory on the campus of Springfield College.
"We could've been more aggressive as a squad. We could've been tougher," Mingo said. "They outplayed us."
In a matchup of top-5 SCNext Top 25 boys’ high school basketball teams, the No. 2 Crusaders (11-2) got a team-high 19 points from Mingo with an efficient 8-for-13 shooting performance, including 3-for-5 from three-point range. Senior guard VJ Edgecombe, who on Sunday will announce what college he will be attending, added 14 points.
For the No. 5 Explorers (15-4) of Miami, Jase Richardson, who is following in his father’s footsteps to play at Michigan State, provided 20 points, six rebounds, nine assists, four steals and two blocks. Cameron Boozer, the No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2025, per 247Sports Composite rankings had a game-high 23 points and 5 blocks, and brother Cayden Boozer, No. 14 in the same class, added 16 points. Jaxon Richardson, a sophomore forward, added nine points and eight rebounds points off the bench. The Boozer brothers and Jase Richardson went a combined 24-of-35 (68.5%).
The formula for making sure everyone gets involved is simple: "It's who's open," Jaxon Richardson said.
"We have a good team where everyone can go off," Cayden Boozer added. "Just depends who is hitting."
Despite Long Island Lutheran missing 11 of 12 shots during a four-plus minute stretch from the end of the first quarter to the middle of the second, the Crusaders kept the margin within single digits by forcing more than twice as many turnovers as they gave up in the first half. Edgecome took over late in the half, capping a personal 9-0 run with a three-pointer ahead of the buzzer to take a 39-36 lead.
The arena completely filled up for the start of the second half, including with the presence of future NBA Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony, whose son, Kiyan, is a junior on Long Island Lutheran. They traded leads early in the second half, but the NBA sons of Columbus ripped off a dominant 26-3 run into the middle of the fourth quarter to pull away. Long Island Lutheran missed 12 of 15 fourth quarter shots.
“Sometimes the day is just not yours, and that's kind of how it felt today just trying to will ourselves to the win,” Long Island Lutheran coach John Buck said. “It just wasn't clicking for us.”
