Providence Day in China: Montverde rematch result, pro teams and Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee

Providence Day boys basketball coach Brian Field said earlier this year that having the opportunity to take his team to China for a high school basketball tournament would be the “experience of a lifetime.”

Now, that it’s over, Field said that it’s been everything he could’ve hoped for.

The Chargers finished 3-2 in the first China-US Youth Basketball Spectacular. Providence Day was one of three U.S. teams playing the nine-team round robin tournament. Chaminade (CA) College Prep and national power Montverde (Fla.) Academy are also in the event with six Chinese teams.

Providence Day beat two Chinese professional teams, the Shougang Youth Team and the Bayi Rockets to reach Saturday morning’s championship game against Montverde, ranked No. 2 in the nation.

The Bayi Rockets are a professional men’s team that plays in the south division of the Chinese Basketball Association. The organization also sponsors youth teams made up of some of the best players in China. The Rockets are the Chinese team that got into an infamous brawl with Georgetown six years ago.

Providence Day lost to the Rockets in their opening pool play game 80-65, then beat a Chinese high school team, Beijing #22 67-31. In the tournament quarterfinals, the Chargers beat Shougang Youth, another Chinese powerhouse, 80-76 and then beat the Rockets in the semifinal rematch 75-72.

“The team we beat today was very, very good,” Field said of the Rockets via text. “One of the best wins we have had since I became head coach. We were tough in a very adverse environment against a bigger team. Huge win for us.”

The win over the Bayi Rockets was followed by an afternoon of cultural activities, including mask-making and learning about traditional Chinese teas.

Also on the trip, Providence Day got a chance to meet Marvel Comics’ founder Stan Lee, the guy behind Spider-Man, Thor and the Avengers.

▪ In Saturday’s championship game, Providence Day lost 85-50 to Montverde, the No. 2 ranked team in MaxPreps’ and USA Today’s national polls. The game featured two players ranked in the top 30 nationally among seniors by ESPN: Chargers point guard Devon Dotson, a Kansas signee, is No. 26. Montverde’s RJ Barrett, the consensus No. 1 player, is heading to Duke. Both players were named to the all-tournament team.

Saturday’s championship game was played in the Khoo Teck Puat Gymnasium at Peking University in Beijing. The gym was built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, and hosted the Ping Pong portion of those games.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 10:22 AM with the headline "Providence Day in China: Montverde rematch result, pro teams and Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee."