5-star recruits Ben Simmons and Isaiah Briscoe put on a show at the Metro Classic

For Montverde High School head coach Kevin Boyle, a New Jersey native and a former coach at St. Patrick, the Garden State’s most storied program, it was about coming home. For Ben Simmons, the consensus No. 1 player in high school basketball, it was about holding his own against top competition. And Roselle Catholic’s Isaiah Briscoe, it was about measuring himself against a team that won the mythical high school national championship each of the last two years.

Kevin Boyle started to come back to New Jersey in 2013 to play against the top teams in state with his new team. Three years playing against Roselle Catholic has resulted in three big wins for Boyle’s nationally ranked team.

Roselle Catholic led Montverde Academy at halftime, but Ben Simmons helped his team overcome the deficit to win, 71-64, in front of a sold-out crowd in the Metro Classic at Kean University.

Simmons finished the contest with 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Eagles, while Briscoe had 19 points in the loss.

Montverde Academy, came into the game ranked second in the USA Today Super 25, while Roselle Catholic was ranked 37th on the list.

Ben Simmons, ESPN’s No.1 player in the 2015 class and an LSU signee, is averaging 28.4 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game this season, and has helped Montverde to a 26-1 record.

One of his most notable performances came Jan.10 when he put up 39 points against Riverside, a high school in Louisiana.

Simmons and Briscoe have been named semifinalists for the Naismith Boy’s High School Player of the Year and selected as McDonald’s All-Americans.

Simmons, an Australian native, committed to LSU in Oct. 2013. The elite prospect built a strong relationship with LSU because the school’s associate head coach David Patrick is Simmons’ godfather.

“I know a lot of people will be struck by me deciding to go to LSU, but that’s where I felt most comfortable,” Simmons told ESPN.com in 2013. “I feel I can progress a lot there, and I feel blessed to have offers from all those schools.”

While Simmons committed early, and the process was relatively smooth and simple, Isaiah Briscoe’s recruitment is a completely different story.

Briscoe committed to Kentucky in November over St. John’s and Connecticut, but before that, the senior’s recruitment took some wild turns. The Roselle Catholic guard cut his list, put schools back on his list, and then saw Kentucky come into the race late and make an offer to him.

Briscoe has averaged 19.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists this season for his 18-3 team. Briscoe is the No.13 player in the 2015 class, according to ESPN, and is considered a five-star prospect.

“I think he’s got the potential to be an all-star, but obviously, he’s got to keep getting better,” Boyle told SNY.tv. “He’s got to keep improving his perimeter game, which has gotten a lot better. But I think he’s got a very good chance, as long as he stays humble and keeps the work ethic of being a top-20 player in the league at some point, so I’d be hopeful and kind of expect of him to reach that goal.”

Each elite high schooler had their own words to offer after the game about one another and their respective teams.

“He played well, he did his thing. His teammates played well and overall they’re a good team,” Simmons said to SNY.tv of Briscoe.

“That’s my guy, we was chit-chatting at the free-throw line,” Briscoe stated to SNY.tv regarding Simmons.

The fight between these two elite players didn’t end in New Jersey. It will continue again soon in the SEC, where Briscoe will have yet another chance to grab a win from Simmons’ team.