Peddie School Wins Girls Tournament – Haley Peters MVP

ESPN RISE held the second annual ESPN RISE National High School Invitational (NHSI), a post-season event featuring boys and girl tournaments, this weekend, April 1-3, at Coppin State University’s Physical Education Complex in Baltimore.  In front of a crowd of more than 1,500 fans, and live on the ESPN family of networks, the Findlay Prep Pilots won the ESPN RISE National High School Invitational championship for the second year in a row; the Peddie School Belles won the girls’ championship. 

ESPN RISE FAB 50’s No. 10 Findlay Prep Pilots defeated the No. 9 Montverde Eagles 59-46.  Tournament MVP was awarded to the nation’s No. 21 player in the ESPNU 100, McDonald’s All-American, senior Corey Joseph, who hasn’t committed yet.  Joseph led the team in scoring with 17 points and was supported by teammates Tristan Thompson with 15, and Nick Johnson with 13. Montverde’s Jamil Jones led his team in scoring with 21 points. 

In the girl’s tournament, the ESPN RISE FAB 50’s No. 27 Peddie School Falcons defeated the Oak Hill Warriors, 60-44.  Haley Peters was named ESPN RISE National High School Invitational MVP; she had 12 points in the championship game. Peddie’s Nekole Jackson lead the Falcon’s with 21 points.  Oak Hill’s Ariel Johnson, a senior going to Georgia in the fall, led the Warriors with 25 points. 

ESPN RISE National High School Invitational “Boys All Tournament” went to Findlay Prep’s Tristan Thompson, Montverde’s James Bell and Jamail Jones; and Winter Park’s Austin Rivers.  “Girls All Tournament” went to Peddie’s Nekole Jackson and Alex Smith; Oak Hill’s Ariel Johnson, and Dillard’s Kianna Conner. 

The ESPN RISE National High School Invitational was sponsored by Nike and Gatorade; the event produced by Paragon Marketing. 

Tournament teams were selected by ESPN RISE high school basketball experts and other leading evaluators based on their performance during the 2009/2010 high school basketball season and their ranking in the ESPN RISE FAB 50. Team eligibility criteria also included that participating schools must be four-year high schools, independent or public, and have their respective governing body’s permission to participate.  Teams with post-graduate students or re-classified fifth year seniors were not eligible for consideration for the ESPN RISE NHSI. 

About ESPN RISE
ESPN RISE represents ESPN’s commitment to engage and elevate student athletes by providing them with recognition, resources, information and inspiration that can motivate them to improve their skills and achieve their goals on and off their fields of play.  ESPN RISE assets include ESPN RISE, GIRL, Hardwood and Gridiron magazines; ESPNRISE.com; and more than 160 high school events including Elite 11, Boost Mobile Elite 24, ESPN RISE Games, ESPN RISE National High School Invitational, Faster to First, Area Code Baseball and Nike Combines/Nike SPARQ Mini Camps.  ESPN RISE is uniquely positioned to provide student athletes and the company’s core fans with compelling high school sports content across all ESPN platforms. 

For team brackets and other information on the ESPN RISE NHSI please see: Media Kit.

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