Balanced Gorman boys cruise in tourney

There's no Shabazz Muhammad at Bishop Gorman this season.

But that might be little solace for the Gaels' opponents.

Gorman used its depth Thursday, placing three scorers in double figures, on the way to an 82-50 home win over Narbonne (Calif.) in the Tarkanian Classic.

"It's a blessing to be so deep," said Gorman coach Grant Rice, who had seven players score six or more points. "But it's awfully tough as well. It's a gift and a curse, because a lot of our guys deserve to play. We're just trying to mix and match and go with guys that are hot at times."

Without Muhammad, who is playing at UCLA, the Gaels (8-0) probably won't lean on one scorer this year. Junior point guard Noah Robotham, who averaged 19 points in leading the Gaels to the title at the Wild West Shootout in Reno last weekend, had one basket Thursday.

But others stepped up, especially Muhammad's brother, Rashad, who had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists.

The Gauchos were hanging around when Muhammad scored eight points in a span of 1 minute, 12 seconds to push the Gaels' lead to 52-35 with 11:19 to play.

"Rashad's going to score in bunches," Rice said.

Muhammad was just 3-for-10 from the field, including 0-for-3 on 3-pointers, in the first half. But he was 7-for-8 from the field in the second half.

"He got out to a tough start in the first half," Rice said. "He got some really good looks but just didn't knock them down, so we talked to him about getting a little closer to the basket and getting some 10-footers and some floaters."

Stephen Zimmerman, a 7-foot sophomore, added 13 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, and senior guard Trey Kennedy had 10 points and five rebounds.

Robotham had only two points but did a good job of running the offense and pressuring the ball on defense. He had seven assists and three steals.

"Noah is having a fantastic season," Rice said. "He didn't score tonight, but he still impacted the game. He's just doing such a good job out there. He's definitely having a really great season so far."

Dominique Street led Narbonne with 18 points, 15 coming in the first half.

"The end of the first half wasn't great," Rice said. "We relaxed a little bit, and they made a little comeback."

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