Monsignor Edward Pace High School’s varsity boys basketball team has started their season 5-0, including winning their first and second district games against Mater Lakes High School 99-81 and La Salle Catholic High School 95-90.
They have done this by using an up-tempo “run and gun” style of play. The "Runnin’ Spartans" average almost 100 shots per game, with almost half of those being 3 point attempts. They force more than 34 turnovers per game from their opponents, and most nights, all 15 players that dress for the game are expected to contribute to this “basketball-in-a-blender” approach.
Along the way, the Spartans have put up some noteworthy statistics:
• 88.3 points/game – 1st in the state, 3rd in the nation as of 11/22.
• CJ Fisher, a junior guard, is 14th in the nation in scoring 24.0 points/game, and put up a season high of 37 against Mater Lakes.
• Irv Norvius is in the top 30 in the state in rebounding, averaging 9.3 rebounds/game.
• Danny Duarte is in the top 30 in the state in scoring averaging 19.0 points/game, and he put up a season high of 30 points against Mater Lakes.
• 99 points is the highest point total of the young season for the Spartans, and the second highest total in Anthony Serro’s two-year tenure as head coach.
The Spartans scored 107 last year against Cooper City. During the Thanksgiving break, the Spartans took their high scoring act on the road to Palm Beach County where they played perennial state powerhouse Grandview Prep on Friday and Lake Worth Christian on Saturday at Suncoast High School’s Charger Classic.
After the Thanksgiving break, the Spartans have home games against Booker T. Washington and Ransom-Everglades.