The No.1 nationally ranked Montverde Academy varsity basketball team opened up their preseason games with dominating wins over Mater Academy and the North Florida Educational Insitute. The Eagles continue an undefeated preseason winning streak dating back to 2011.

In their first game against Mater Academy, senior and University of Arkansas commit Moses Moody led the Eagles to a 93-52 victory with 22 points and a perfect 8-8 shooting behind the arc.

"The ball movement was great and my teammates did a great job in getting me open," said Moody. "I was just dialed in and focused on shooting the ball."

In the first half, the Eagles controlled the tempo of the game scoring on 70% of their fast breaks and took a 12-5 lead in the first four minutes of play, leading to a 24-11 margin at the end of the first quarter. The lead increased to 20 with just over six minutes to play in the second quarter and the Eagles kept pouring it on. A 24 point lead at the half became a 30 point lead after three quarters with the help of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Day'ron Sharpe who posted 16 points down low. FSU commit Scottie Barnes tallied 13  points and OSU commits Cade Cunningham added 10 points of his own.

In their last game of the preseason, the Eagles defeated NFEI after an incredible performance from Langston Love who earned Player of the Game with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. The Eagles led from start to finish and never looked back after a 14-2 start in the first six minutes of the first quarter. At the half, NFEI trailed MVA 52-15 and did not recover.  Moody had yet again a near-perfect night shooting 60% from the field and 8-8 from the free-throw line. When the final whistle blew, the Eagles won 78-29 and now look to play in the first regular-season game at the Thanksgiving Hoopfest, November 29 at 9:00 p.m. against Duncanville High School.

"If we continue to build on that intensity that we played on defense, there should be no reason why we can't be able to guard any high school team in the country," said Head Coach Kevin Boyle. "It could end up that we will play against 11-12 teams that are nationally ranked in the top 5, we have to be ready."

Purple and Gold Game Recap:

Keeping with MVA tradition, the Eagles opened up their preseason with the Purple and Gold practice scrimmage on November 19. This action-packed intrasquad scrimmage not only showcased the talent of the varsity team but also their dunking tricks in the pregame dunk contest.
The contest featured the best basketball talent at MVA including the University of Texas commit Lachlan Bofinger, CBD athlete Sam Davidson, University of Michigan commit Zeb Jackson, rising sophomore Dariq Whitehead, UNC commit Day'ron Sharpe, and a SIMA player, Mamadou Fall which marks the first time a soccer athlete competed in a basketball dunk contest at MVA. In the final round, Sharp would throw down a between the leg dunk earning 10's across the board. In order to top that dunk by the UNC commit, Jackson decided to leap over 6'5'' Moses Moody while dunking the ball at the same time. Jackson would complete the jump successfully and take home the 2019 Dunk Contest trophy.

In the Purple and Gold game,  the varsity team fueled the crowd with nonstop action in a combined score of 157 points. FSU commit Scottie Barnes led the Purple team over Team Gold 80-77 with 20 points off of an 8-10 shooting and 4-4 from the free-throw line. No.2 nationally ranked Cade Cunnigham also added 19 points while dishing out 7 dimes for the night. Sophomore sensation Dariq Whitehead led the Purple team and all other MVA players in scoring with 23 points and several dunks. With other special performances from the MVA Choir and newly added Pom Squad, the Purple and Gold game was a big success.