Findlay College Prep point guard Issiah Grayson (3) goes up for a basket against South Florida defenders during The Rock Holiday Classic basketball tournament at the Henderson International School in December.
Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008 | 8:45 p.m.
Findlay College Prep cruised to 10-0 on Saturday night with an 88-26 thumping of South Miami (Fla.) Senior High in the Rock Holiday Classic.
When Findlay guard Rasham Suarez scored on a layup with 77 seconds remaining, Senior coach Robert Doctor had guard Marquis Heath dribble near halfcourt for a minute.
With 17 seconds left, an official called the game.
“I didn’t want them to score 100 points,” Doctor said. “We weren’t up for the challenge. Our guys laid down. That’s a good team. They play great defense and they have good athletes.”
Findlay coach Mike Peck never saw that before. But he said he would not have allowed the Pilots to hit triple digits. After that Miami possession, Peck would have had his players spread the court to kill the clock.
“I want our guys to play hard,” Peck said. “I feel bad when we score that much, but I played the whole roster and we didn’t press. Telling them not to play hard sends the wrong message.”
Findlay is No. 2 in the latest USA Today national Super 25 prep poll. It extended its average margin of victory Saturday from 34 to 37 points.
The Pilots play in a semifinal of the tournament Monday at 7 p.m. and will likely play New York Rice, a 77-44 victor over South Eugene (Ore.) on Saturday, and sharp-shooting guard Durand Scott in the final Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Pilots senior guard Avery Bradley, who will play at Texas next season and had relatives wearing Longhorns gear watching him play, led the Pilots with 20 points against South Miami.
Illinois-bound guard D.J. Richardson had 15 and Suarez tallied 14.
Victor Rudd, the 6-foot-7 forward who is being recruited by UNLV among about half a dozen schools, scored 11 points with Rebels coach Lon Kruger and two assistants in attendance.
Bradley scored 14 of his points in a first quarter that the Pilots won, 25-9. Findlay had a 69-26 advantage after three quarters. South Miami didn't score in the fourth quarter.
The Cobras dropped to 7-1.
A few plays by the Pilots were scintillating, staring with Rudd's flash right-handed jam off Issiah Grayson's quick alley-oop feed that gave Findlay a 36-12 edge.
In the third quarter, Cory Joseph, Findlay's junior point guard from suburban Toronto, was guarding his man above the top of the key when another Miami player dribbled behind him. Joseph reached behind him with his left hand to poke the ball free and caused a turnover.
Toward the end of the game, Findlay junior power forward Godwin Okonji executed a text-book move to his right and then a drop step back down to his left for an easy basket.
Peck had not planned to start UNLV-bound 6-11 center Carlos Lopez, to "re-motivate" him, but a technical error had Lopez in the starting lineup. Fourteen seconds into the game, Peck put Okonji in for Lopez.
Lopez has been thinking too much, Peck said. Analyzing too much. To play more within the flow of the offense, which is a gear or two faster than last season's squad that went 32-1, Peck wants Lopez to think less.
Lopez scored five points against Miami.
"Our guys want to prove a lot to people," Peck said, "that we're for real."
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