TOURNAMENT NOTES: Gorman star gets plenty of help

Winston Shepard and Nigel Williams-Goss, both bound for Findlay Prep, are helping Muhammad, a Bishop Gorman High School star, overwhelm the competition this week in the 15-and-under division.

“It’s a pretty tough trio,” Shepard said Friday, after Dream Vision (San Diego) crushed the Abyssinian Crusaders (N.Y.) 81-36 in a first-round tournament game at Cimarron-Memorial High School.

Muhammad, a 6-foot-4-inch shooting guard, scored 22 of his 29 points in the first half. He’s ranked by at least one recruiting service as the nation’s top player in the 2012 class.

Shepard, a 6-7 forward from Houston, scored 11 points. Williams-Goss, a 6-3 point guard from Portland, Ore., added 10.

Williams-Goss will be a freshman and Shepard a sophomore at Findlay Prep.

All three players are in UNLV’s recruiting plans.

“Nigel runs the team real well. He passes the rock and shoots it well. Winston is very long, and he finishes at the rim,” Muhammad said. “Both of them are good players. Findlay Prep was already loaded.”

Shepard said he relocated to Las Vegas to seek more exposure.

“I’ve been trying to get my national name up a lot more,” he said. “I’m known back home in Texas and on the East Coast a little bit, but I haven’t really been out here on the West Coast that much.”

After losing its opening pool-play game Wednesday, Dream Vision has blown out three opponents.

“On paper we’re probably the best team here,” Shepard said. “But every night you’ve got to come out and show it. We’ve got all these teams out here trying to crack our head.”

Muhammad has been satisfied with his play in all areas but one: perimeter shooting.

“My shot is not going real well right now. I need to get in the gym and work on it as soon as possible,” Muhammad said.

ALSTON COACHES — New Jersey Nets point guard Rafer Alston is in Las Vegas serving as coach of the New York Panthers of Baldwin, N.Y., at the Reebok Summer Championships.

“I’m trying to give them things I’ve learned in my career,” Alston said. “If they can learn to play hard and the right way, they’ll be better prepared for college.”

The Panthers suffered a 74-62 loss to MBA Elite (Miss.) in the fifth-place game of the Create-N-Finish Cup, an eight-team mini-tournament, at Foothill. They play IAD-FCA (Texas) at Green Valley at 10:45 a.m. Saturday.

Alston has averaged 10.3 points and 4.9 assists in a 10-year NBA career. He was traded from Orlando to New Jersey on June 26.

California Supreme won the cup with a 75-55 rout of Texas Bluechips Navy. Gary Franklin Jr. scored 15 points to lead Supreme, which also got double-figure scoring from UCLA commit Tyler Lamb (14) and Keala King (11).

LOCAL ACTION — In the adidas Super 64, Bishop Gorman’s Johnathan Loyd scored 19 points to lead the Las Vegas Prospects to a 64-58 win over Team Intensity Jammers (Fla.) in a Championship Bracket first-round game at Rancho.

The Prospects play Double Pump 2011 Elite (Calif.) at 9 a.m. Saturday at Rancho.

In the Gold Bracket, Palo Verde’s Davion Pearson scored 15 points and Desert Pines’ Chris Perry 10 to lead Las Vegas Dogcatchers Elite to an 88-67 rout of Colorado Select Blue. Las Vegas will play at 11:40 a.m. Saturday at Rancho against a team to be determined.

In The Main Event, Coronado’s Brandon Glanz had 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks to lead Henderson’s Mad Moves Inc. to a 65-55 win over Just A Game (Wis.) at Desert Pines.

Mad Moves Inc. went 2-1 in pool play and will play a Gold Championship first-round game at 11:15 a.m. Saturday at Legacy against a team to be determined.

In the StarVision Sports Center Stage Tournament, Gorman’s Anson Winder had 24 points to lead Las Vegas’ Triple Double Elite to a 71-56 win over New Mexico Force.

Triple Double Elite went 3-0 in pool play and faces I Can All Stars White (Calif.) at 9 a.m. Saturday at Spring Valley.

In the Reebok Summer Championships, Centennial’s Ben Vozzola scored 14 points to help Branch West Prep (Calif.) thump Total Package Red (Wash.) 88-35 at Liberty.

Playing for Belmont Shore (Calif.), Findlay Prep’s Godwin Okonji scored 10 points in a 70-57 loss to Brandon Bass (Texas) and 21 in a 60-52 win over Salt Lake Metro Black.