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Edward Zhang | SLDecember 22, 2024, 7:18am
Sat, Dec 21, 2024 @ Iolani
The homecoming king is crowned at the classic.
It's a story so good it almost seems made up: after leaving the islands following his freshman campaign, JJ Mandaquit returns to Lower Gym in his senior year — along with number one ranked player in the country, AJ Dybantsa — and leads Utah Prep to the top spot at the Iolani Classic.
While the ending was sweet, the 32 minutes of basketball leading up to it wasn't all pretty for Utah Prep.
In the first half, the Brewster defensive unit, made up of 6-foot-3 Killyan Toure and the 6-foot-7 duo of Preston Fowler and Sebastian Wilkins, forced Dybantsa into a slew of off-balance jump shots, while Stanford commit Ebuka Okorie hounded Mandaquit every time he brought up the ball.
The free-flowing Utah offense struggled as Dybantsa, who ended the half with ten points on 3-for-9 shooting, couldn't capitalize on isolation opportunities.
"I thought we were a little bit stagnant; (Dybantsa) was working mostly out of an iso, so we told him to get it moving a little bit more, catch it in different positions, and try to get something going to the rim," Utah Prep Head Coach LJ Yamzon said.
On the other end, Brewster Academy juxtaposed Utah's five-out offense with an array of controlled, Princeton-style sets, which they executed to a tee. Coming off down-screens, backdoor cuts, and curls, Toure and Okorie found easy looks at the rim and from three. The Brewster backcourt duo finished the game with a team-leading ten points each, and at the end of the first half, their efforts netted the New England squad a 29-21 lead.
Then AJ Dybantsa listened to his coach — or perhaps simply remembered that he is 6'8.
The BYU commit began barreling down the lane each time he touched the ball, forcing his way to the free throw line, finishing in the paint, or both.
His 19 second-half points, including a layup with 26 ticks left in the third to take lead, vaulted Utah Prep out of the deficit, and when Preston Fowler's buzzer-beating attempt fell short, the scoreboard read 45-43 Utah, and the Iolani Classic's Koa Head was on its way to the Beehive State.
For over an hour after the game, fans, family, and friends swarmed the court for a photo with the beloved Mandaquit. The United States National Team point guard and University of Washington commit averaged 11.3 points over four games during the Classic and was selected to the All-Tournament team. When asked about being back where his high school career kicked off, Mandaquit left a message filled with aloha:
"It was a lot of fun. It means everything, to come back home."
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