FAB 50 No. 2 CIA Bella Vista (Arizona) Outlasts Dynamic Prep (Dallas) in Overtime in the marquee game of day one in the Prep Division at the 2025 Tarkanian Classic.
The nation’s No. 2 ranked team in the FAB 50, CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.), defeated a club that has national title aspirations of its own. The Bears, however, made it plenty harder than it needed to be and needed overtime to do it.
Dynamic Prep (Dallas, Texas) played in the 2025 Chipotle Nationals championship game and might be a better team this season. CIA Bella Vista, however, could be as good as any team in the country and definitely showed it at times on the opening night of the prep division of the Tarkanian Classic.
The game was billed as a matchup between two of the top three forwards in the national class in CIA Bella Vista’s Paul Osaruyi and Dynamic Prep’s Marcus Spears Jr. Both splendid prospects has spectacular moments, but the clear difference-maker in CIA Bella Vista’s 65-61 overtime victory was West Virginia-bound point guard Miles Sadler, who made the big plays and clutch free throws to seal the key victory for a 7-0 club.
The 6-foot-1, 165-pounder helped sparked his team early, as the Bears led 7-0 early as Dynamic Prep continued its trend of getting behind early in its big games so far this season. CIA Bella Vista led 16-4 and then 22-15 halfway through the first half, as Dynamic Prep was sluggish in its transition defense and getting beat on the boards. The Bears’ fundamental triple threats on offense and close outs on defense bothered Dynamic Prep in the first half. The EYBL Scholastic club led 28-15 and it ended up 39-26 at halftime.
Miles Sadler Dominant
Sadler, who pound-for-pound is the best player in the EYBL Scholastic League and perhaps in the country as well, had 16 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Nobody else was in double-digits scoring, but even more than that, he dominated the 16 minutes of action with speed, precision, I.Q., the hit-ahead and hockey assist, plus complete command of the dribble.
A technical foul called for flopping (which is supposed to be a point of emphasis for referees based on recommendations by the NFHS this season) with 13 minutes left remaining in the second half completely changed the complexion of the game. The game became a barrage of free throws after some confusing technical foul calls and ensuing foul shots that favored the Overtime Elite-affiliated club.
The dam eventually crested for Dynamic Prep and with 5:45 remaining in the game, junior guard Hunter McGraw tied the game on a reserve lay-up at 51-51, but with 4:40 to go Sadler threw in a circus shot, and-one, to give CIA Bella Vista its spark back. With 2:06 to go, Spears Jr. converted on a hard drive to give Dynamic Prep a 56-55 lead. With 1:21 remaining, shooting guard Dakari Spear of Dynamic Prep converted a contested shot to make it 58-56 after a Sadler free throw, then CIA Bella Vista tied it on a field goal by 7-foot center Amadou Seini, who joined the program a month ago from Cameroon. CIA Bella Vista then got a defensive stop, but Sadler was called for traveling violation on a pass off with 19 seconds remaining.
The game went to overtime tied at 58-58 after Dynamic Prep’s McGraw missed a 3-pointer. Sadler gave CIA Bella Vista a 61-58 lead after two missed free throws by Dynamic Prep and Dynamic’s momentum was thwarted by a charging call on Spears with 1:31 to go on a gutty defensive play underneath by Sadler. With 33 seconds left, two free throws by Sadler made it 63-59. With 18 seconds to go, Austin Goosby (11 points) made a driving lay-up, then Sadler converted two free throws with 10 seconds to go to ice the victory.
Sadler finished with 29 points, as no teammate had double figures, while seven players scored for Bella Vista. His ability to get wherever he wants on the floor, short memory on misses and the confidence to make the next one was on display in the latter part of the second half and in OT. Osaruyi has some incredible defensive plays, including a block over the square that most NBA players would be envious of, finishing with five blocks and nine rebounds. Osaruyi is the best athlete in 2027 and in contention as the best player in the country. Seini attacked the glass and added 13 rebounds.
More CIA Bella Vista-Dynamic Prep Evals
Liam Mitakaro’s box score stats don’t pop out, but the 6-foot-3 sophomore from Canada is a a true point guard with good positional size and a high feel for the game. He sees over defenders and has a tight handle. There’s a lot to like with this one and will be really good when it’s his turn to run the show.
Spear led Dynamic Prep with 20 points, as he got into an offensive rhythm in the second half. He has 3-point shooting chops and displayed the ability to be a viable option in late shot clock possessions. McGraw added 15 points. He’s a lefty guard that’s an acrobatic finisher. Spears, albeit finished 2-of-12 from the field with 12 rebounds. He has an outlier motor and a nose for the ball. Even when he’s not scoring, Spears was impactful in this game as a rebounder, post defender and rim protector.
Although New Mexico signee Phoenix Woodson struggled scoring, his energy and physicality provided a much needed rebounding spark for Dynamic Prep. He accumulated 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Ronnie Flores contributed to this report.
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