Pilots are all over FIBA U19 worlds in New Zealand

By Rob Miech

Monday, July 6, 2009 | 3:54 p.m.

In Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson and Carlos Lopez, Findlay College Prep is being represented well at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand.

Lopez’s Puerto Rico team has excelled. It is 3-1 in Group E and has a major showdown with the U.S. on Tuesday night at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland.

Mike Rosario, a Puerto Rican guard who plays for Rutgers, has been the star of the event. He rang up 54 points against France and is averaging 31.8 points.

With 10 points, Lopez is tied for third on his team in scoring and he leads Puerto Rico with seven rebounds a game.

He will play for UNLV in the fall and Rebels fans might be interested in his newly cropped hair. Click here to check out his new look. Lopez has always had long hair, which he controlled during games with a band. He cut most of it off for this tournament.

Here is a Las Vegas Sun story from last summer about Lopez's past exploits on the Puerto Rico junior national squad.

Joseph and Thompson, who will be seniors at Findlay in the fall, are playing for Canada, which isn’t doing too well in New Zealand.

The Canadians are 1-3 in Group F, and it will need to be successful against Kazakhstan and Argentina in its final two games to reach the quarterfinals.

Joseph had 24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and no turnovers in an 83-77 defeat to Croatia on Monday. He is second on the team with 12.5 points a game. Thompson is tied for fourth at 9.7 points and fourth at 6.3 boards.