Gilchrist Leads St. Pat’s Into City of Palms Final; McLemore, Cook Pace Oak Hill to Hawaii Title; Jordan Classic Moving to North Carolina

Basketball fans hoping to see a Michael Gilchrist-Austin Rivers showdown Wednesday night on ESPNU won’t get their wish.

Gilchrist, the 6-foot-7 Kentucky signee, held up his end of the bargain by dropping a career-high 34 points and 13 rebounds as Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick downed Mater Dei, 71-61, in the semifinals of the City of Palms Classic in Fort Meyers, Fla.

But Duke-bound Rivers and Winter Park came up short, 63-62, to Milton (Ga.) in the other semi.

St. Patrick, ranked No. 11 by USA Today, will face No. 15 Milton at 9:30 on ESPNU.

Mater Dei meets Winter Park in the consolation game at 7:30.

“I’m a team guy and I don’t care about the rankings at all,” Gilchrist told the New York Post. “I’m my own man, I just try to play my game every night and I just try to win.”

“I thought he was great that he was so diverse tonight,” St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle told the Post. “He pushed to the rim and scored, he posted and scored, he hit some threes and some mid-range shots off of screen-downs for him. The kid is just a winner.”

Western Kentucky commit Derrick Gordon, who scored his career-high of 37 points in St. Patrick’s victory over Whitney Young (Ill.) Saturday, added 17 points and freshman big man Dakari Johnson put up 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Gilchrist and Rivers will tangle on Jan. 14 when the teams meet up at Winter Park in a game to be shown on ESPN2.

MCLEMORE, COOK LEAD OAK HILL TO TITLE

Duke-bound point guard Quinn Cook and uncommitted senior guard Ben McLemore paced Oak Hill Academy to the Iolani Classic title with a 58-44 win over Montverde Academy Tuesday night in Hawaii.

Cook was named MVP after posting 22 points and five assists and Jordan Adams had nine points and 14 rebounds. McLemore was named Most Outstanding Player of the event.

In the consolation game, West Virginia-bound point guard Jabarie Hinds of Mount Vernon dropped 30 points in a 69-57 win over Dr. Phillips (Fla.).

All Tournament Team:

• Treg Setty – Mason County
• Micah Dunhour – Academy of the Pacific
• Micah Christensen – Kamehameha
• Shane Larkin – Dr. Philips
• Charles Mitchell – Wheeler
• Trevyn Tulonghari – Iolani
• Steve Missi – Montverde
• Taylor Martin – Lexington Catholic
• Mason Kualii-Moe – Kaimuki
• Zeqi Wang – Tsinghua
• Wesley Armbrust – Moanalua
• Jordan Adams – Oak Hill
• Jabarie Hinds – Mount Vernon
• Patricio Garino – Montverde
• Scott Schuette – Lexington Catholic

JORDAN CLASSIC MOVING TO NORTH CAROLINA

The 2011 Jordan Brand Classic will not take place at Madison Square Garden.

Instead, it will be held in Charlotte, N.C. on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

“We are thrilled that for 10 years the Jordan Brand Classic has been the premier destination where the biggest names in youth basketball can display their talents in a competitive environment while also receiving teaching that will leave them equipped to reach their goals of being successful both on and off the court,” said Keith Houlemard, President of Jordan Brand.

This marks the second major high school event to leave New York City in the past year. The Boost Mobile Elite 24 game shifted to Venice Beach, Calif., from Harlem’s Rucker Park.

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(Photo courtesy Naples Daily News)

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