Moanalua's Kahanu Pu'ulei-Auld scored a team-high 8 points against Findlay Prep. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Findlay Prep's Fallou Ndoye goes up for a jumper over Moanalua's Eliet Donley. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Wed, Dec 19, 2012 @ Iolani

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Findlay Prep

70

Moanalua

37

Final	1	2	3	4
Findlay Prep	19	21	17	13	70
Moanalua (12-2, 20-10)	9	13	12	3	37

K. Pu'ulei-Auld 8 pts  2/3 FTs

N. Williams-Goss 17 pts  5/5 FTs

Moanalua held an early lead against the nation's top-ranked basketball team Wednesday night, but couldn't sustain it as powerhouse Findlay Prep (Nev.) ran away with a 70-37 win in an opening-round game of the Iolani Prep Classic.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored a game-high 17 points to lead three players in double-figures and the Pilots, ranked No. 1 in the latest USA Today Super 25, advanced to Thursday's quarterfinal round with the win before a near-capacity crowd at Iolani's Lower Gym. Findlay Prep will take on Coolidge (Washington, D.C.) in an 8 p.m. quarterfinal, while Moanalua will play Kapolei in a 2 p.m. consolation game.

"We had a couple of guys kind of banged up, so we were able to get a lot of guys a lot of time and they played hard," Findlay Prep coach Todd Simon said.

Williams-Goss, a three-year starter at point guard who will play at the University of Washington next season, had 10 points by halftime, including eight in the first quarter. He was 5 for 5 from the free-throw line.

"He's the captain of the court and he's had better days than he did today, but he's as good as there is," Simon said of Williams-Goss. "I wouldn't trade him for any point guard in the country."

Benas Griciunas had 11 points, including a pair of made 3's, Stanford Robinson scored 10 and Kingsley Okoro added nine for the Pilots. Griciunas has committed to Auburn, while Robinson will play at Indiana next season.

Kahanu Puulei-Auld led Moanalua with eight points. Eliet Donley had seven points and Justin Hudcovic added six for Na Menehune, who trailed 40-22 at halftime.

"(Moanalua) is a very good team. I expect that they'll do pretty well for themselves, they fight, they scrap and they kept it pretty interesting. It was good for us," Simon said. "Their attacking style was good for us to go against and we had a little layoff here, so it was good to play against a formidable opponent."

Findlay Prep turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, allowing just 15 points by Moanalua after the intermission.

"Especially in the second half, they did a nice job," Simon said of his team. "(Moanalua) had just 15 (points) in the second half and only three in the fourth (quarter), which is good. It's a testament to our second unit and the guys that put all that time into conditioning, so I'm pretty pleased with that."

The Pilots finished last season with a 32-1 mark and ranked No. 2 in the nation.