A lot of things had to work out in a short period of time for Huntsville High School to play a previously unscheduled game against one of the top basketball powerhouses in the nation Tuesday night.

Coach Christian Schweers had to get approval from his principal, the county athletic director and the Alabama High School Athletic Association for his team to travel to Florida to play star-powered Montverde Academy.

“Logistically, a lot had to fall into place, and it all did in about 48 hours,” Schweers said. “We were very fortunate.”

Montverde, which has won seven national championships since 2013, won the game 78-51 but the experience, the trip and the competition was well worth it, according to Schweers.

“Taking our team out of state and playing the best team in the country in their gym can only help us achieve our goals going forward,” he said. “We could not have received the confidence we got from this trip anywhere else. We got really pushed and exposed in some areas but to be able to compete against players that good and that big for 32 minutes is huge.”

The Alabama High School Athletic Association mandates a 30-game limit for a high school basketball regular season. Schweers usually leaves one spot open in case a rare opportunity arises. That happened last week.

“Montverde put something out on social media last Thursday that they needed a game because someone canceled,” he said. “I was just kind of joking with our coaches that, ‘Hey, what if we played them?’ I had a mutual contact who had a connection down there. I was initially trying to see if they would come to Huntsville and play, but they needed a home game. I told them if they would play us that we would find a way to get down there if we are allowed to.”

Schweers quickly got clearance from his principal and county and, by Saturday morning, had the OK from the AHSAA as well. The Panthers played a late game at DAR on Monday night, flew to Orlando late Tuesday and played the game Wednesday. They were scheduled to fly back to Huntsville later today.

“I had no idea what to expect,” Schweers said of the game itself. “They had just beaten someone by 90 on Monday. I didn’t know what would happen. I didn’t know if we would get beat by 50 or 60 or whatever. I think we ended up earning a lot of respect. They invited us back to their tournament next year, and it really all started with a social media post.”

Montverde’s roster includes the No. 1 player in the nation, according to the 2024 ESPN 100, in Duke 6-foot-9 commit Cooper Flagg. He’s joined by 6-foot-9 Georgia signee Asa Newell, 6-foot-7 Indiana signee Liam McNeeley and 6-foot-9 Derik Queen just to name a few.

However, on this night, Schweers said the best player on the court was Huntsville senior Caleb Harrison. The Samford signee turned in a career-high 27 points to go along with seven rebounds.

“He was phenomenal,” Schweers said. “He was the best player on the floor. To get 27 against guys like that was incredible, and he did it in a variety of ways. He did it going to the basket, hitting fadeaways, hitting 3s. At one point, he had a personal 9-0 run.”

Simon Walker added 15 points and six rebounds for Huntsville (3-1), scoring 13 points in the second half. The Panthers shot 42 percent from the field overall (20-of-48) compared to 57 percent (32-of-56) for Montverde. Montverde won the rebounding battle 29-20 and committed six turnovers to Huntsville’s 14.

Queen led Montverde with 14 points. Newell and Robert Wright had 12 each and Flagg finished with 11.

“We were very fortunate to be able to pull this off and in less than four days,” Schweers said. “It speaks to the awesome support we have from our administration, Huntsville City Schools and the AHSAA. I want to thank all the people who helped make this happen. Everyone did their job to give these kids a once in a lifetime opportunity. That’s what it’s about.”

Huntsville returns to action Monday at Bob Jones in the first round of the N2Hoops Classic. The Panthers will take on Westminster at 6 p.m.