CCL Recap: Morris caps MVP season with CCL title

WEST DES MOINES — Monte Morris walked up to the group of media members at Valley Southwoods on Sunday night with a smile on his face. A smile on Morris’ face wasn’t an abnormal site, but it might’ve been a bit bigger than usual on this night.

“You can find my tweet,” Morris said. “I tweeted I was going to win MVP and win the championship before this.”

He had just scored 24 points while leading Renaissance Granite & Quartz to the YMCA Capital City League championship with a 114-102 win over Lions Club. Earlier in the night, the senior to be from Flint, Mich., was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.

His season stat line was as impressive as you might think. He scored 35 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished eight assists per game. He led the league with three steals per game.

Oh, and he shot 47 percent from the floor.

“Got to back it up,” Morris said.

He scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished five assists in his team’s 103-99 win over Tim Borland Photography in overtime. That win included a go-ahead jumper with eight seconds left during the extra period.

The two wins give the senior point guard a great deal of momentum heading into this week’s Nike Skills Camp.

“I’m just going to try to do my best out there and compete at a high level,” Morris said. “Just give it my all out there in LA and just try to learn as much as I can. Just learn from the pros that are going to be out there.”

You can hear from Morris, including some interesting thoughts on sophomore guard Nick Babb, in the video below.

Notes:

*** Matt Thomas scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while shooting 1-of-7 from behind the arc, in Tim Borland Photography’s semifinal loss to Renaissance Granite & Quartz. Simeon Carter also added 22 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks.

*** Deonte Burton scored 37 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Hannah Homes’ semifinal loss to Lions Club.

*** Merrill Holden scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the Lions Club’s championship game loss. He also added 10 points and six rebounds in the semifinal win. Jakolby Long scored six points in both games.