Findlay Prep

By Rob Miech

Published Tuesday, July 7, 2009 | 10:13 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, July 7, 2009 | 10:31 a.m.

Of the three Findlay College Prep connections at the FIBA U19 World Championship in New Zealand, guard Cory Joseph impressed the most today.

The senior-to-be from the Toronto area had 20 points, on 9-for-14 shooting, to go with six rebounds and an assist in Canada’s 108-70 victory over Kazakhstan.

Joseph was instrumental in guiding the Pilots to the ESPN National High School Invitational championship in Maryland, which capped Findlay’s 33-0 season.

Louisville appears to be leading for his services, but Joseph has maintained that he’s wide open on where he will play college ball.

Canada (2-3) needs to defeat Argentina (3-2) on Wednesday, at the North Shore Events Center in Auckland, to create a three-way tie among those teams, and likely Spain (which is 2-3 but plays 1-4 Kazakhstan on Wednesday), atop their group. Two will advance to the quarterfinals.

Tristan Thompson, Joseph’s teammate at Findlay and longtime friend, played only two minutes against Kazakhstan.

For Puerto Rico, former Findlay center Carlos Lopez, who will play at UNLV in the fall, shot 0-for-4 in 25 minutes of an 82-61 defeat to the 5-0 U.S. squad He had six rebounds, and an assist, a steal and a blocked shot.

The Puerto Ricans never led. They are 3-2 and need to defeat Egypt on Wednesday, at ASB Stadium, to get to the quarters.