Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Prep basketball:

Bishop Gorman knocks off nation’s fifth-ranked team in Massachusetts

Rosco Allen and Shabazz Muhammad show off skills on national television

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Sam Morris

Bishop Gorman’s Rosco Allen.

Updated Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 | 6:29 p.m.

Prep Sports Now

Breaking down the Bishop Gorman, Findlay Prep showdown

Las Vegas Sun reporters Case Keefer and Ray Brewer take a look at Saturday's high school basketball game between Bishop Gorman and Findlay Prep. They also break down the Palo Verde-Centennial game.

Bishop Gorman represented Las Vegas well in one of the premier high school basketball events of the year Monday afternoon.

Gorman defeated Maryland’s DeMatha Catholic, which ESPN ranked as the fifth best team in the nation, 73-65 at the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. The Gaels improved to 13-3 on the season in handing the Stags their first defeat.

“This had to be one of the top (wins),” Gorman’s Shabazz Muhammad, the top senior in the nation, said on ESPNU. “This was on the highest stage, on national television. I just wanted to come out here and perform and get the really big win for us.”

Three Gorman seniors — Muhammad, Rosco Allen and Ronnie Stanley — accounted for nearly 90 percent of the team's points. Muhammad scored 37 points, several of which came in the form of authoritative dunks.

The final, and most memorable, slam came in transition when Allen found Muhammad, who corralled the ball from his waist and finished in a clockwise motion.

“I was fired up,” Muhammad said. “It was a great play. Rosco was being very unselfish and gave it back to me. I had to finish with an exclamation point for the win.”

Allen stood out as much as Muhammad on this day. The Stanford commit recorded a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

He drained a couple three-pointers and sliced into the lane for easy buckets throughout four quarters. Stanley, who will play football at Notre Dame next year, had his best game of the season after returning recently from an elbow injury.

Stanley had nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

“I’m just happy to get the win,” Muhammad said. “We had a lot of fun out there.”

Gorman never trailed. The Gaels stormed out to a 10-2 lead with all the points coming from Muhammad and Allen.

It set the tone for the rest of the game. DeMatha cut it to a single-possession game three times in the fourth quarter, but the Gaels kept answering.

Gorman has two more games scheduled this week. The Gaels host Bonanza Friday before a showdown with Findlay Prep, ESPN’s No. 6 team in the nation, Saturday at the Cox Pavilion.

Findlay defeated the No. 1 team in the nation, Simeon, 75-50 Monday at the Hoophall Classic.

“That’s going to be exciting also,” Muhammad said. “I’m just happy I have the opportunity.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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