Nevada Epicenter of High School Basketball..at least for one night

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

Who'd have thunk it?  Nevada as the epicenter of high school basketball in America.

Thanks to Findlay Prep and Bishop Gorman, it was on Saturday night when the two schools battled for Nevada bragging rights, plus a better spot in national rankings.

Now, it should be pointed-out for those of you that don't know, Bishop Gorman is a catholic high school in Las Vegas; Findlay Prep, located about 10 miles outside of Vegas in Henderson, is a controversial school because it's all about basketball.

Findlay was founded in 2006 by Cliff Findlay, a car dealer, who is also a UNLV basketball booster and former player for the Runnin' Rebels.

There's been a big spotlight on Findlay Prep, not only for its 143-8 record since opening, but the fact that  its only students are the its basketball players.  The players are actually students at Henderson International School, a pre-school through 12th grade, full-accredited private school.

Bishop Gorman has grown in national prominence because of its football program that has spent the better part of the last decade near the top of national ranking services.  The Gaels' b-ball team has been no slouch either with four state titles under head coach Grant Rice since 2002, plus being nationally-ranked last year.

The Gaels also have Shabazz Muhammad, who is considered the nation's #1 ranked senior, who entered the game averaging 30 points a game.

Heading into Saturday afternoon's game that was played before a sellout crowd of 2,500 and an ESPN national television audience, BG was ranked #13 by MaxPreps.com, while Findlay was the third best academy team in its national rankings.  Tickets for the game on StubHub were reportedly going for as much as $200.

On the court, Findlay (19-1) beat the Gaels (13-4) 73-61 at Cox Arena in Vegas.  Findlay has now beaten Bishop Gorman in each of the four games the two schools have played.  Last year, Findlay won 88-86 in double-overtime.

Muhammad was held to 19 points in the game.  Findlay was led by Dominic Artis, who netted 21 points, and Nigel Williams-Goss, who scored 20.