Johnston gets 52 at Montverde tourney

Johnston gets 52 at Montverde tourney

By Robert Alfonso Jr.

MONTVERDE, FL – Chase Johnston had that special feeling for Westminster Academy’s final game at the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament on Saturday.

During warmups, the senior guard was locked in as his shot just felt good leaving his hand. The shooters feeling continued as Johnston finished with a tournament high 52-points in the Lions 93-70 win over The Villages to get at least one MAIT win.

“I definitely was feeling it from warmups,” Johnston said. “Coach (Ehren) Wallhoff has given me the green light my whole career at WA. Hes definitely confident in me.”

Wallhoff has given Johnston the confidence from day one. The Purdue-Fort Wayne signee is averaging 24 points a game on the season. Johnston hit that mark in the first-half against The Villages. He duplicated the effort in the second-half for his second most single-game performance of his career.

After going 0-2, Wallhoff spoke to Johnston about Westminster needing a win. He wanted the senior to lead in any way possible.

“He is one of the guys who has been in the grind with us,” Walloff said, since the Lions have come back-to-back state championships. “He know what it means to come to tournaments like this. We wanted to represent. We talked about that leadership. He didn’t just talk about it in the locker room but backed it up in the locker room.”

While Johnston’s performance was a tournament high for the 2019 edition of the MAIT, it was uncertain where it ranked in the 16 year history of the tournament. This, however, was not Johnston’s career-high. His best offensive output was a 61-point performance as a freshman.

“He has had the luxury of playing since he was a freshman,” Wallhoff said. “The game comes so easy to him now. He’s one of those guys who has the huge ability to be crafty. If you give him one-step he’s getting it off.”