Wichita’s Gradey Dick helps Sunrise Christian basketball knock off No. 1 Montverde
The Sunrise Christian Academy boys basketball team was the talk of high school hoops across the country on Friday night after ending the 44-game winning streak of nationally No. 1-ranked Montverde Academy.
No. 3 Sunrise rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, with the help of Wichita native Gradey Dick, before escaping Florida with a 69-66 overtime victory on Montverde’s home court and in front of a national television audience on ESPN.
Sunrise coach Luke Barnwell said he had more than 80 messages waiting for him on his phone after the marquee victory. He said that’s a testament to the support the prep school in Bel Air has from its alumni.
“It means more than people probably realize,” Barnwell told The Eagle. “We have a family atmosphere at Sunrise and people care about it because they’ve been around it. (Montverde) has been the top dog and to beat them on their home court is pretty special. But I also feel like we have a good team, so I wasn’t necessarily surprised or felt like we shocked the world. We have a chance to win a national championship.”
According to Barnwell, Dick made the play that swung the momentum for Sunrise early in the fourth quarter when it was down big. There was a loose ball near mid-court and a Montverde player bent down to scoop it up, only for the ball to be deflected off of him out of bounds by Dick, who dived head-first to make the play.
“Honestly, that was the play that got us going,” Barnwell said. “Plays like that can get you through hard moments. The energy and juice gets going. We started to commit to defending and started chipping away.”
Dick drilled a crucial three-pointer with 8.3 seconds remaining in regulation to trim the deficit to 56-55. After Montverde made two free throws, Tennessee signee Kennedy Chandler (19 points) swished the game-tying three-pointer as time expired in regulation to force overtime.
The Buffaloes started overtime on a 7-0 run and never trailed again, as Baylor signee Kendall Brown led Sunrise with a game-high 21 points. Sunrise (16-2) successfully avenged a 58-52 loss to Montverde on Jan. 9, while handing Montverde its first loss since April 2019.
In a game that featured 13 nationally ranked players, Dick finished with 10 points and four rebounds in the win. Dick recently cut his final recruiting list down to Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Purdue and Texas Tech.
“I think Gradey’s competitiveness came out in this game,” Barnwell said. “He made that diving play on the ball. He took a charge late. He was tremendous on the glass getting us extra possessions, then he stuck some shots down the stretch. He was huge for us.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 8:31 AM.
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