Cooper Flagg scores 23 points in sold-out Maine homecoming - Bangor Daily News

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Seventeen-year-old Newport natives Cooper and Ace Flagg turned Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena into a roof-rocking, 6,000-person celebration on Friday night, as their No. 1 Montverde Academy Eagles romped past No. 16 Gonzaga Prep of Washington, D.C., 93-51 in Day 1 of the Maine Event.

It was possibly the most highly anticipated game of Cooper and Ace Flagg’s Montverde basketball careers, with tickets to see Cooper, the nation’s No. 1 basketball prospect, selling out within 12 hours.

Cooper got the party started just three seconds after tipoff, when Montverde senior Liam McNeely corralled a loose ball and found a streaking Flagg cutting to the basket, as Cooper slammed it home and drew an ear-popping reaction from the impassioned crowd.

“It was an incredible feeling,” Cooper said. “It means everything to come back and really feel that support in real time. There was a little extra pressure, but when the ball got tossed up at the start of the game, it all kinda washed away.”

Fourteen seconds later, Cooper was at it again, taking a defensive rebound down the court and finding senior Robert Wright in the corner for a three to quickly make it 5-0 Eagles.

Flagg finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and eight blocks.

Cooper’s twin brother Ace was the next Eagle to get on the board, posting up in front of Gonzaga’s basket and smoothly sinking a fadeaway jumper, drawing another booming reaction from the crowd.

“It got me feeling good early,” Ace said. “When I got out there, I got back to playing basketball — that’s all it is. When you’re playing here, you know that no matter what happens, everyone’s going to be behind you.”

Ace finished with six points and five rebounds.

By halftime, Montverde had already taken a commanding 45-22 lead. With the victory, the Eagles improved to 14-0, and have now beaten eight of the top 20 high school teams nationwide, including No. 2 Long Island Lutheran and No. 3 Paul VI at the City of Palms tournament two weeks ago.

Preceding Montverde’s game against Gonzaga on Friday was a Class A North matchup between Nokomis — Cooper and Ace’s hometown team — and Cony of Augusta.

In 2021-22, Cooper and Ace led the Warriors to a 23-1 record and their first ever boys’ basketball state championship, over Falmouth at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

This time around, however, the 6-3 Warriors weren’t as successful, falling to Cony 57-54 after four hard-fought quarters. Seniors Alex Grant (17 points) and Connor Sides (13) were Nokomis’ leading bucket-getters, while Cony senior Parker Sergent (25) led all scorers.

“It’s awesome to be a part of this event,” Nokomis junior and the Flaggs’ former Maine United teammate Dawson Townsend said. “It’s cool to see all of [Cooper and Ace’s] hard work pay off.”