Turnovers doom Findlay Prep in semifinal loss at national tournament

Derryck Thornton’s crossover dribble that put Montverde Academy star Ben Simmons on skates in the first quarter is certain to be an Internet sensation.

There might be a popular meme featuring P.J. Washington’s ferocious two-handed jam from early in the second half.

And the stepback, 17-foot baseline jumper Allonzo Trier made late in the third quarter after a behind-the-back dribble was worthy of any TV highlight show.

Yes, Findlay Prep’s boys basketball team made all the flashy plays Friday. It was the Pilots’ inability to make the simple ones that cost them a chance to play for a national title.

Findlay Prep committed 27 turnovers and was unable to corral two long rebounds at the end of regulation, and the Pilots lost 57-53 in overtime to Montverde Academy (Fla.) in the semifinals of the High School National Tournament in New York City.

“Every year our goal is to try to win the national championship, but I’m really happy and pleased with our guys’ effort and attitude all season long,” first-year Pilots coach Andy Johnson said. “We had a few opportunities to try to win the game, but you know, unfortunately, sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way. But I couldn’t be more proud of our team right now.”

Trier was the only player to reach double figures in scoring for Findlay Prep (29-3) as the Arizona signee finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and two steals. The Pilots made 16 of their 49 shots (32.7 percent) and battled foul problems for much of the game as they tried to contain Simmons, the consensus No. 1 player in the class of 2015.

O’Shae Brissett, Justin Jackson, Horace Spencer, Khalea Turner and Washington all fouled out for Findlay Prep, which was left with five players for the final 1:33 of overtime and spent much of the second half in a 2-3 zone.

“Next, we were going to have to put in our assistant coaches,” Johnson quipped. “It definitely changed the game a little bit with the foul situation, especially with the foul trouble with all our bigs. Overall, I thought as a team we played really well defensively.”

Noah Dickerson made a 3-pointer — Montverde was 0-for-22 from beyond the arc to that point — to cut Findlay Prep’s lead to 41-40 with 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After Thornton made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line to put the Pilots up by two points, Dickerson was fouled with 5.9 seconds.

The 6-foot-8-inch Florida commit missed both free throws, but Howard Washington grabbed the long rebound for the Eagles and fired up a quick baseline jumper that didn’t fall. The ball bounced to Martez Cameron in the middle of the lane, and he scooped in the game-tying shot at the buzzer.

“It was a lucky bounce, and they made one more play than we did,” Johnson said.

In the overtime, Findlay led 50-48 with 1:33 remaining when Trier made both free throws after a technical foul on Montverde. But Turner was whistled for a technical before play resumed and Simmons went 2-for-2 at the line to tie the game.

Fard Muhammad then made a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to give the Eagles a 53-50 lead with 1:20 left, and the Pilots couldn’t get closer than one point the rest of the way.

“They did a great job trapping a lot of ball screens,” Johnson said. “We coughed it up as a team way too much today, and in the end, you can’t cough it up as much as we did and have an opportunity to beat a good team like Montverde.”

Simmons finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Eagles (30-1), but he went 5-for-15 from the field. Montverde, ranked No. 2 in the USA Today Super 25, shot 25 percent from the floor (16-for-64) and made only 23 of 42 from the foul line.

“That was our goal today was to try to make everyone else beat us but him,” Johnson said. “He’s such a great player. He’s tough to stop, though.”

Thornton’s killer crossover came with 13 seconds left in the first quarter and put Simmons on his backside, thrilling the crowd at Christ the King High School and those following along on social media. But Thornton missed the open 15-footer, which was a common theme on the day for Findlay Prep.

Thornton finished with nine points on 2-for-12 shooting and was responsible for a large portion of the Pilots’ turnovers while recording only two assists.

Trier had eight points in the first half and made two 3-pointers to help Findlay Prep take a 22-17 lead at halftime.

Montverde missed all 14 of its 3-point attempts in the first half, and Simmons was limited to five points as the Pilots collapsed their defense around the Louisiana State commit.

“We wanted to try to limit the amount of shots that they got inside as much as possible,” Johnson said. “We really just wanted to try to load the lane on all their bigs and make their guards beat us with outside jump shots.”

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.