Findlay survives Gorman scare

The crowd stood for the third time as Findlay Prep cleared out for point guard Myck Kabongo.

This time he dished the ball, and it ended the game.

Kabongo drove to his right, then passed to an open Kevin Kaspar at the top of the key, and Kaspar drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the second overtime to give the Pilots an 89-86 victory over Class 4A Bishop Gorman in front of a sellout crowd at Cox Pavilion.

Kabongo had the ball at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime. Both times the crowd rose to its feet and Kabongo was able to get into the lane for a shot, but couldn't hit it.

This time he found Kaspar, who hadn't taken a shot before nailing the game winner.

"Before the shot, I told Myck I could pop out and knock it down," said Kaspar, a senior from Turkey. "He passed the ball and I put the shot up, and we won. I can't believe I won the game."

Gorman took an 83-78 lead on a 3-pointer by Shabazz Muhammad with 3:05 left in the second overtime.

But Nigel Williams-Goss, who hadn't scored since the third quarter, had a 3-pointer, a driving layup and a rebound bucket to put the Pilots, ranked seventh nationally by ESPN Rise, up 85-83.

Williams-Goss, a sophomore who has committed to UNLV, hit 1 of 2 free throws with 59.2 seconds left to make it 86-83.

But Gorman freshman Noah Robotham nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner with 34 seconds left to tie the game.

Findlay (21-2) held the ball, then called timeout with 13.7 seconds left to set up the final play.

"We haven't lost to them, so it meant a lot to us," Kaspar said. "We came to win this game, and we said were not going to lose this game."

Kabongo had 26 points, including 21 after halftime, to lead the Pilots. He added six rebounds.

Muhammad had 32 points to lead the Gaels (13-5), who are ranked 47th nationally. He had 24 points after halftime, and led Gorman with 13 rebounds.

Ben Carter added 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots for Gorman.

It was Bishop Gorman's fourth game against a team currently ranked in the top 50 nationally by ESPN Rise.

The Gaels previously lost 72-63 to No. 31 Dwyer (Fla.), 58-52 to No. 17 DeMatha (Md.) and 79-63 to No. 1 St. Patrick (N.J.).

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.