Malachi Moreno and Great Crossing played against the Boozer twins. How did the UK signee fare?
On Thursday night, a showcase boys high school basketball matchup took place pitting a future Kentucky Wildcat against two future Duke Blue Devils.
The outcome was a heavy defeat for the future Wildcat and his Kentucky high school team.
Malachi Moreno — a 6-foot-11 center who is one of three UK basketball signees for Mark Pope’s program in the 2025 recruiting class — and his Great Crossing High School (Georgetown) squad were soundly defeated by Cameron and Cayden Boozer and their Christopher Columbus High School (Miami) team.
Columbus defeated Great Crossing, 90-39, in the opening round of the 51st annual City of Palms Classic, which takes place in Fort Myers, Florida.
Moreno, one of the favorites to be named the 2025 Kentucky Mr. Basketball as the state’s top senior, finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Moreno led Great Crossing in each of those categories.
Cameron Boozer, a 6-9 power forward, had 23 points and nine rebounds. Cayden Boozer, a 6-4 point guard, had 16 points and eight assists.
Cameron and Cayden are the twin sons of ex-Duke basketball legend and former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer. The Boozer twins committed to Duke in October.
Columbus dominated Great Crossing — one of the favorites in the commonwealth to win the 2025 Sweet 16 state tournament — from start to finish Thursday. Columbus led by 24 points at halftime and the entire fourth quarter of the game was played with a running clock.
Despite the lopsided result, there were still positive moments for Moreno on a major stage against top high school opposition.
Moreno — a four-star recruit who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 27 overall player in the 2025 class — had moments where he grabbed rebounds over Cameron and one sequence in which he blocked one of Cameron’s shots.
Additionally, there were moments where Moreno’s passing ability, soft hands and basketball intelligence shined through. Entering the high-profile matchup, Moreno had been averaging 23.4 points and 17.1 rebounds per game for Great Crossing.
But as part of Columbus’ big win, Cameron (a five-star recruit and the No. 2 national prospect in the 2025 class) and Cayden (a four-star recruit and the No. 22 national prospect in the 2025 class) both had plenty of highlights of their own.
Cameron made 10 of his 13 shots from the field, including a 3-for-5 showing from 3-point range. Cayden made 7 of his 9 shots from the floor, including both of his 3-point tries.
Columbus also got a highlight-worthy performance from five-star junior power forward Caleb Gaskins (18 points and six rebounds) and four-star junior small forward Jaxon Richardson (16 points). Jaxon is the son of former Michigan State standout and college national champion Jason Richardson.
After losing two games all of last season, Great Crossing has now lost three straight games this season.
The Warhawks first suffered a setback last Sunday night when they lost to St. Xavier in Louisville. Then came Thursday’s loss to Columbus.
On Friday morning, Great Crossing lost to Westminster Academy (Florida), 81-72, in another City of Palms Classic game. In this defeat, Moreno had 13 points, 14 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists for the Warhawks. Great Crossing is now 6-3 on the season.
The Warhawks will close the event on Monday morning against Bishop McNamara (Maryland).
Columbus went on to defeat Grayson (Georgia) by an 85-48 score in another City of Palms game on Friday night. Grayson’s team includes five-star shooting guard Caleb Holt, a UK recruit. Holt had 9 points and 5 turnovers in the loss.
Columbus then beat IMG Academy (Florida) by a 77-71 score in a City of Palms semifinal on Saturday night. Columbus is now 11-1 this season and has won 11 straight games.
Columbus will next play Montverde Academy (Florida) in the City of Palms championship game on Monday night.
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 9:47 PM.
