Imhotep Charter's defensive masterclass propels Panthers to City of Palms Classic title
The physicality of the Imhotep defense was present at the very beginning. And it proved to cause numerous problems for a young Columbus squad.
Missed passes. Blocked shots. Steals turning into points at the other end. It was everything Imhotep coach Andre Noble was looking for as the Panthers downed Columbus, winning 61-44 to capture their first City of Palms Classic championship in the program's second appearance. In 2018, Imhotep fell short to McEachern (Ga.).
"I thought this group defensively was lights out," Noble said. "When we don't turn it over, and we lock up like that, it's really tough to score the ball. We're not the biggest team, we're never the biggest team. In Philadelphia, we're not that tall, but we are tough. And we're going to be tough, gritty, and give everything we've got. That's what they did tonight."
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The Imhotep defense did its job guarding the duo of Cameron and Cayden Boozer, top sophomore prospects and the twin sons of longtime NBA standout Carlos Boozer. The duo combined for 25 of the team's 44 points but shot 11 of 26 from the field, and 1 for 5 from distance. Cayden Boozer turned the ball over seven times and fouled out late in the contest. Cameron Boozer added nine rebounds, one shy of a double-double. Both were named to the City of Palms Classic All-Tournament team.
"They have a lot of actions that they run, and it's good," Noble said. "I've never seen a team in the City of Palms get as many dunks as they get, from watching in previous games. We just played off their concepts today, taking away the elbows, being aggressive on their blocks. We knew we had to stay attached to 23 (Benny Fragela). We didn't really guard 24 (Malik Abdullahi), and just hung in the lane off him. We felt like it was about six or seven concepts we could play off of, and make it really hard for them today. Our guys did that."
Columbus coach Andrew Moran said that overcoming the slow starts in both the first and second quarters limited the Explorers in what they could do. After not scoring for the first 4:58 of the first quarter and 5:52 of the second quarter, Moran's team came out hard in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to six before Rahmir Barno responded with a lay-up and a 3-pointer to build the lead back to double digits. Kentucky signee Justin Edwards (No. 2 in 247Sports Composite) forced Cameron Boozer to struggle more often than not, prompting visible frustration on the court from the No. 1 sophomore in the nation.
"You gotta give it to them," Moran said. "They came out, took everything away from us, they pressured us. We folded, especially in the first half. You gotta give them credit. They were ready. They executed their game plan, and we did not. We fought back in the third, I think we cut it to six at one point, but we were just doing uncharacteristic things, with people taking shots we don't usually take, and just wide-eyed a little bit."
Barno was named Tournament MVP after averaging 15.5 points 4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in Imhotep's four games. The FGCU signee never looked uncomfortable on the court, and created quality looks throughout the tournament.
"I felt like this was a culminating of two years of work for this group of three (Barno, Edwards, Ahmad Nowell)," Noble said. "Where they've been building towards this. To see them actually accomplish it and see them have this moment, we work really really hard on the stuff we do. I'm really happy to see them have this culminating moment for themselves.
"Obviously, especially for Rah because this is going to be the city that he plays in. It's almost storybook for him, in that sense. ... I said earlier about this group's brotherhood. These two guys are super happy that he's MVP. That's a big part of what's making us good. They don't have any envy or jealousy of one another. They celebrate each other's successes. This brotherhood is special."
Edwards had an impressive second half, slamming home a pair of dunks while swatting away multiple shot attempts. The five-star guard had 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from inside the 3-point line. He added six rebounds.
"It's always fun out there because I'm competing with my family," Edwards said. "That's basically it, I'm always having fun with my family."
This is just the beginning of a competitive stretch for Imhotep, which will be heading to play in the Chick-fil-A Classic in South Carolina. Edwards, Barno, and Nowell all agreed that winning the City of Palms will put the target on their backs as the team to beat heading into their first tournament game against Long Island Lutheran.
"It doesn't get easier for us," Noble said. "We've got LuHi in three or four days. It doesn't get any easier. We're off to St. Louis to play Simeon, so we've got more doozy's on our schedule. It's one at a time. We always talk about one game at a time, and not looking too far ahead. We're gonna have fun tonight, but we'll lock in on LuHi tomorrow."
City of Palms Classic All-Tournament Team
MVP: Rahmir Barno, Imhotep Charter (Pa.), Cameron Boozer, Columbus, Cayden Boozer, Columbus, Bishop Boswell, Myers Park (N.C.), Cameron Carr, Link Academy (Mo.), Stephen Castle, Newton (Ga.), Isaiah Collier, Wheeler (Ga.), Justin Edwards, Imhotep Charter (Pa.), Boogie Fland, Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.), DeShawn Harris-Smith, Paul VI (Va.), Tyler Jackson, St. Frances (Md.), Tre Johnson, Lake Highland (Texas), Karter Knox, Tampa Catholic, Jared McCain, Centennial (Calif.), Ahmad Newell, Imhotep Charter (Pa.), Reed Sheppard, North Laurel (Ky.)
Follow Southwest Florida Sports Writer Alex Martin on Twitter: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Imhotep defeats Columbus to capture City of Palms Classic championship
