Chipotle Nationals: SPIRE (Ohio) bullies its way past Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.)
Kevin Boyle knows a thing or two about winning national tournaments and he’s got SPIRE Academy (Ohio) rolling. The rising Midwest program further cemented its arrival on Wednesday night. In the opening round of the Chipotle Nationals, SPIRE defeated Archbishop Stepinac (N.
Y. ) 87-76 at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind. One glance at the boxscore tells the story.
SPIRE, the No. 15 team nationally per the Rivals Composite Rankings , scored 54 points in the paint and led for over 30 minutes of game time. Four of its five starters finished in double figures.
It outscored Stepinac 27-10 in the third quarter to begin to pull away and assisted on 24 of its 35 made field goals. Alabama four-star small forward commit Tarris Bouie lit it up and led his team with 22 points on 11-12 shooting. He also had nine rebounds, six assists and a block in 26 minutes.
He finished with a game-high plus-minus of plus-21. SPIRE shot a whopping 69 percent from the field, knocking down 35 of its 51 attempts. It made just four 3-pointers and comfortably won despite shooting 13-25 from the free throw line.