Findlay Prep overwhelms Iolani, 95-37

Findlay Prep's Justin Roberts dribbles past Iolani's Noah Bumanglag. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) started fast and furious as they overwhelmed host Iolani, 95-37, in the quarterfinals of the Iolani Classic at Iolani's Lower Gymnasium on Monday night.

The Pilots, ranked second in the USA Today Super 25 Computer Rankings, eighth in the Expert Rankings, advance to the semifinals to face Kahuku at 8 p.m on Tuesday, Dec. 20. The Raiders play De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) at 5 p.m.

Four Pilots scored in double figures led by Lamine Diane, who scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. Spencer Washington scored 16 points and was 4-for-6 from behind the arc. Justin Roberts and PJ Washington each added 13 and five assists.

"We preach about being unselfish and passing the ball to the guy upfront and we try to share the ball and being unselfish. That's one of the points we stress before every game," said Findlay Prep coach Paul Washington.

Iolani had trouble overcoming the Pilots' suffocating press and half court defense, that led to 22 turnovers. The Raiders missed their first 12 shots as Findlay Prep jumped out to a 19-0 lead.

"We press and trap to get in it defensively, that starts the momentum for our team. We did a pretty good job in the first quarter tonight," said Washington.

The Raiders got their first points of the game after Bailey Alabanza hit a 3-pointer near the 7:00 mark in the second quarter. Alabanza scored nine points all off of 3's.

"We have to know to contest their shots because they're one of the best shooting teams in the tournament. We knew that going into it so we did a good job rotating and help side defense. We gave them respect for being good shooters," said Washington.

Findlay Prep scored 27 points in the second quarter to take a 46-13 lead at halftime and scored 49 points in the second half. The Pilots finished with 12 blocked shots for the game.

The Pilots shot 50 percent (40 of 80) from the field, mostly off of layups and buckets in transition. Iolani shot 30 percent (15 of 50) from the field.

Hugh Hogland scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the Raiders.

Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].