Wichita’s Gradey Dick, KU signee, leads Sunrise basketball to win vs. No. 1 Montverde
In a showdown between the top two-ranked boys basketball prep teams, Sunrise Christian Academy came away looking like the No. 1 team in the country.
Led by Wichita native and KU-bound Gradey Dick, No. 2 Sunrise found revenge for its only loss of the season with a convincing 71-61 win over No. 1 Montverde Academy in a NIBC showdown in La Porte, Indiana on Thursday night. Sunrise improved to 10-1, while Montverde dropped to 9-3.
Dick scored a team-high 20 points, including all five of his three-pointers in the first half, to lead Sunrise to an impressive victory over the top-ranked team in ESPN’s Top 25 rankings in a game where it led by as many as 18 points and led by double-digits for all but 43 seconds in the second half.
“Gradey has grown so much (since coming to Sunrise),” Sunrise coach Luke Barnwell said. “Just his understanding of the game, understanding how to use his strengths and play without the ball and then be aggressive when he gets it. To play that well against probably the best defensive team in the country shows you how much he’s grown.”
After playing more of a complimentary role for Sunrise last season, Dick has blossomed into a star in his second season at the prep school and the first competing in the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference play, which is an eight-team super league comprised of some of the best prep teams in the country.
Dick, a 6-foot-7 wing and top-50 recruit in the class of 2022, is averaging the third-most points in NIBC play, at 17.6 points, while leading the star-studded league in three-point shooting with 20 three-pointers in five games with shooting percentages of 53.4% from the field and 50% beyond the arc.
“Shooting is something that Gradey has always worked at,” Barnwell said. “He’s always shot it well and it opens up the floor for him. He’s not just a shooter, even though that’s what people might think. He can drive and finish around the rim and make plays for other. He’s learning to use that jump shot to start creating other advantages for himself and for others.”
Dick’s outside shooting was the difference, at least in the first half, in the win over Montverde. Sunrise actually trailed 23-22 midway through the second quarter when Dick caught fire, draining back-to-back triples to spark a 10-0 run. He ended up hitting a total of three three-pointers during an extended 20-5 run by Sunrise to close out the half, as it turned a one-point deficit into a 14-point halftime lead.
Montverde, which defeated Sunrise 53-44 in the opening weekend of NIBC play on December 4, was led by five-star Texas signee Dillon Mitchell with a game-high 29 points, while five-star Indiana signee Jalen Hood-Schifino added 13 points and four assists and five-star Duke signee Dariq Whitehead chipped in 12 points and four assists.
Sunrise was led by a pair of top-50 class of 2023 recruits in Scotty Middleton, who scored 19 points off the bench and point guard Layden Blocker, who doled out nine assists. Florida State signee Cam Corhen scored 13 points, while Duke signee Mark Mitchell added eight.
Even with Montverde grabbing 15 offensive rebounds for a 40-31 rebounding advantage, Sunrise prevailed because it shot 53.3% from the floor and made 12 of 20 of its three-pointers. On top of revenging this season’s lone loss, Sunrise also grabbed some redemption after losing to Montverde in two national championship games from last season.
“They had our number last year, so this one feels good for our guys,” Barnwell said. “I think we took some time to reflect off those games and had some time to really prepare and get our minds ready.
“We competed defensively well we got it moving around a little bit and spaced the floor well. We needed to be better on the glass, but they’re so big and physical. They just kind of beat you up. But I thought we guarded hard and then on offense, we were unselfish and shared the ball.”
Sunrise moved into a three-way tie atop the NIBC standings with a 4-1 league record, the same as La Lumiere and IMG Academy. Sunrise will remain in La Porte for two more league games, as it will play Wasatch Academy at 2 p.m. Friday on ESPN+ and play Legacy Academy at 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
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