Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 | 9:26 p.m.
A first-half test against Foothill High turned into some halftime heat Wednesday night for Findlay College Prep’s basketball team
When the Pilots emerged out of their dressing room for the third quarter, they blasted Foothill with 31 points en route to a 92-58 victory.
“I think guys were worried about foul trouble in the first half,” said Findlay senior forward Victor Rudd. “We talked about it at the half and knew we had to play good defense. But I didn’t expect them to play that well.”
Findlay, the No. 2 team in USA Today’s national Super 25 poll, improved to 25-0.
Foothill (18-9) was led by Kevin Roquemore, a junior speedster who scored 14 points and lists Texas A&M and Stanford among his top suitors.
“We played a bunch of guys who take this game a whole lot more serious than our guys,” said Foothill coach Kevin Soares. “We’ll get better from it. It was a great opportunity for us.”
Rudd led Findlay with 23 points, senior guard Avery Bradley tallied 20 and junior point guard Cory Joseph had 19.
Findlay led, 37-33, at the half, but a Joseph 3-pointer and Rudd’s follow-up gave the Pilots their first cushion, at 49-37.
Rudd’s layup gave Findlay its first 20-point edge, at 62-41 and Rudd turned in one of the plays of the game when he stepped to the line for two free throws with 2 ticks left in the third quarter.
He missed both, and the rebound on the second one somehow drifted out to Rudd along the 3-point arc. He just launched the shot before the buzzer, and it went in for a 68-45 advantage. The Pilots won the quarter, 31-12.
“At halftime, we came together and said we have to play better,” Bradley said. “Things weren’t going very well on the offensive end, and we had to make up for it on the defensive end. All of us were angry that we weren’t playing that well.”
Findlay coach Mike Peck was most upset that the Pilots gave up 14 offensive rebounds to Foothill in that lethargic first half.
Carlos Lopez, the UNLV-bound center for Findlay, had another play of the game even though it didn’t count.
With 2:20 left, with his back to the basket just above the free-throw line, he was called for traveling. Frustrated, he lobbed the ball over his head, back at the basket, and it went in.
The standing-room-only crowd howled.
Findlay plays at Bishop Gorman on Thursday at 7 p.m., and plays host to Stoneridge Prep at the Henderson International School, with which the Pilots are affiliated, on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
In a recent development, Peck accepted an invitation to play at Duncanville (Texas) on Feb. 20.
NOTES – Rudd said he heard from Memphis assistant coach Josh Pastner on Wednesday. UNLV is among his top choices, he said, as is Arizona and a few other programs. He will focus on hoops for Findlay this month and make a decision in March.
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