Dynamic Prep (Texas) crushes Prolific Prep (Calif.) to advance to Chipotle Nationals championship

Dynamic Prep (Texas) continued its dream run at Chipotle Nationals on Friday afternoon, storming past Prolific Prep (Calif.) in the first semifinal of the day in Fishers, Ind.

After upsetting Montverde Academy (Fla.), the defending champs, on Wednesday, the Bearcats then rolled past Link Academy (Mo.), the 2023 champs, on Thursday, setting up a battle with the rising Golden State program. Dynamic made its presence felt early and never trailed The Crew, coasting to an 83-64 win.

It was a balanced attack, but Rutgers power forward signee Chris Nwuli was the early catalyst and led the way for Dynamic with 20 points and six rebounds. SMU center signee Jaden Toombs also dominated en route to a 17-point, 14-board double-double. Leroy Kelly IV had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Prolific star shooting guard and Kansas signee Darryn Peterson poured in 24 points on 9-27 shooting. Michigan forward signee Winters Grady had 16 points and seven rebounds.

It was all Dynamic from the jump. Nwuli started the game in style with a highlight dunk before Toombs splashed a corner 3-pointer. Toombs had seven of the Bearcats’ first nine points. In a flash, the Dynamic lead was 16-3. Nwuli continued to dominate in the paint and racked up 12 points in the first quarter.

Prolific Prep couldn’t find its second gear in the first half, as Peterson was kept in check and shots didn’t drop. Dynamic continued to build its lead in the second quarter, with Ryan Hampton and Marcus Spears Jr. each knocking down treys. The lead grew as high as 28 points, but a quick 8-0 Prolific run brought the score to 46-20 at halftime.

Dynamic shot 16-34 from the floor in the half and knocked down seven 3-pointers. Prolific was ice cold, shooting 6-21 while getting bodied in the rebounding battle. The Crew was also without McDonald’s All-American and Washington forward signee Niko Bundalo, who was out due to injury suffered earlier in the week.

Prolific looked much more lively in the second half, but the deficit proved to be too large late. Peterson and Grady helped trim the Dynamic lead to 15 as the Bearcats got sloppy down the stretch. Dynamic staved off a late comeback bid and shot 46.6 percent for the game.

Dynamic will play the winner of Friday’s other semifinal between Brewster Academy (N.H.) and Columbus (Fla.), the top seed in the tournament. The championship is set to tipoff at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday.

About the Chipotle Nationals

More on the major event via the Chipotle Nationals’ website:

“The National High School Invitational (NHSI) was created in 2009 by Paragon Marketing Group to provide a platform for the top, nationally ranked high school basketball teams in the country to compete against one another in a season-ending tournament.

Over the course of fifteen-years, this event (previously titled DICK’S Nationals and GEICO Nationals, taking place in DC, NYC, FL) has crowned the best high school basketball teams in the country. In 2024, the event moved to IN and became the Chipotle High School Basketball Nationals aka ‘Chipotle Nationals’.”