Montverde Academy (FL) does not play the role of underdog too often. Or at all, really. The impressive five-year stretch at DICK'S Nationals, which included three straight titles, has this program always at the top, yet it might not be the favorite this year in the eyes of head coach Kevin Boyle.

Battling injuries and a tough schedule, the Eagles enter the eight-team tournament as the No. 3 seed. They are still in good shape heading to play No. 6 Shadow Mountain (AZ) at Christ the King High School on Thursday and are still hungry and talented to win.

Above all, Boyle is looking to get his squad back to the promise land and be the No. 1 team when it's all said and done.

FloHoops: Coach, it's another year and another chance to win a national title. How do you feel going into the DICK'S Nationals tournament?
Boyle: Obviously, that title is an incredible goal and accomplishment for the team or any team. Most years, if you win that, you probably win the national championship. This year there is some question about that, but I just think the winner should clearly come from the tournament. I think whoever wins will have a strong, strong case and a resume for that.

What's been the recipe for success for this program in this tournament?
My first year we lost in the final. We actually lost a pretty good lead in the final. We were the lowest seed and got to the final. It was our first year, and then we were fortunate to win three in a row. Last year we lost in the semis. We obviously have a very good record against elite, elite competition.

I think the recipe is that we've had about six weeks between games, for the most part. We stopped for about a week after that mid-February run when we played in New Jersey and then we go for about five weeks. We keep going. We're going four or five times a week and then we go up to six times a week. Last week, everybody stayed here, we did two-a-day practices. We treat it like the national championship in the NCAA Tournament, and we keep trying to see if we can get better, see if we can add some quick sets in on the side, and get a couple of kinks worked out. We do a big thing on scouting the other teams that we are playing or could play. We watch tape and practice guarding their plays. We try to be as prepared as possible for the first opponent and the next projected opponent. It's working.

What do you see out of this team and their response to this practice schedule?
I think we've had great success having only lost probably four or five games over a three- or four-year period. Now, we had four losses this year, and obviously three of them were right at the end. With the schedule, it's still a very good accomplishment. We have the bar set so high.

I think they're getting better. They've overcome some adversity. We have the strongest case of anybody (to be No. 1), if we win, based on our schedule. I think if we win the tournament, and again, we could lose the first game because the Shadow Mountain team is really good, but if we were to be successful, we would be 7-3 against teams who have appeared in the top 10, and we'll end up being 6-2 against teams in the top five. Most of the teams in the top 10 have played one team or no teams in the top 10… If we win DICK'S, we will have won the biggest in-season tournament, the City of Palms, and then we would have won the biggest postseason tournament.

So in that case, having six top five wins, winning DICK's and City of Palms, I would think clearly it would be hard not to make us No. 1 based on that resume.

What do you like about your team that gives them a chance to make it happen again?
Obviously, we have a chance because we haven't played, but we have some situations. Sean Mobley has hurt his hand. Can he play? Can he not play? We have another guy who has been hurt, but he's been playing. Even with that, I just have a good feeling about this team. I've been telling them all year when we lost games that we have a chance to get in DICK'S. I've just told them all along that we're going to have a chance at DICK'S. Everybody is 0-0, and I think it's going to work out.

I told the guys whoever wins will be No. 1 in the country, and I do think it would be hard to put any of teams in there at No. 1. But I know in our case, it would be very, very hard for anybody with a basketball IQ not to make us No. 1 if we win it.

I think we are in a position that we didn't think we would be in, but the way everything shook out, we have that opportunity.

What do you see with Shadow Mountain that might pose some matchup problems?
They're coached by Mike Bibby, who was just a terrific, great player in college and NBA. He has an aggressive, attack attitude as a coach, which made him a great player. They play that way. They play aggressive. They have passion. They're not going to be intimidated. They have three guards who are really good, two that are really fast, and you have to get back on defense. They shoot the three, they will get to the rim, and they do them both well. It's critical we get back on defense and stop the ball right away and find their shooters. If we do that, I think we have an excellent chance. If we don't do that, the game will come down to the end, and we could put ourselves in a position to be eliminated.

And they have not lost. They have not played the schedule that's close to our type of schedule, but they haven't lost, and it's usually tough that first game to beat a team who hasn't lost. It's difficult because they've gone through the whole season; they have a lot of passion and hunger and pride. Those teams, with no losses, it's even tougher to knock somebody out than if than had lost four or five. They would have already experienced that. This team hasn't experienced a loss of a game yet.

It's going to be a difficult game, but we're just taking it one game at a time. We know we can prepare for it, but they are going to be prepared for us as well.

Are you excited for this?
I'm definitely excited about it. When I first came in, we were maybe not the favorite and we lost in the final. Then a couple of years I thought we had definitely as good of a team or better than other people, and we better figure out a way to win. Now, I think it's where most people probably think there's other teams with more talent, so we're in a little bit of an underdog role. And that excites me to try to have that role and see if we can win in that position.