Adam Miller isn’t likely to forget his Morgan Park debut.
After all, how often do you play the No. 1 team in the country in one of Chicago’s iconic venues?
“It was a fun experience being out there with all the bright lights and everybody around me,” Miller said after the Mustangs’ 64-61 loss to Findlay Prep from Nevada in Sunday’s finale of the Like Mike Invitational.
The three-game event, which tipped off with Hillcrest’s 70-58 win over Scanlan (N.Y.), was played before a standing room-only crowd in the grand ballroom at the east end of Navy Pier. Sponsors brought in portable bleachers, two video boards, a massive digital scoreboard and a state-of-the-art sound system.
Findlay Prep brought in a slew of top-level prospects, led by Oregon recruit Bol Bol.
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The 7-foot-1, 225-pound senior is the son of former NBA star Manute Bol, and he’s not even the tallest player on the Pilots’ roster. That would be 7-3 Connor Vanover, a Memphis recruit. Also part of Findlay’s deep talent pool is 6-7, 220-pound Reggie Chaney, an Arkansas recruit.
But Miller, a sophomore guard who transferred in from Peoria Manual, and his teammates weren’t intimidated by the Pilots’ resume.
“It’s just a regular game,” said Miller, who hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with a team-high 13 points. “You put me in the NBA, I’ll be ready for anything. You put me out here, and I’ll do what I do.”
What the Mustangs (0-1) did Sunday was play swarming defense against the team ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today.
“We all have the same mindset,” Miller said. “We fly around on defense, we’re going to punch them in the mouth on offense.”
Bol, whose game-high 30 points included a 3-pointer from the top of the key, finished with four fouls as Morgan Park showed no reluctance to drive inside against him.
“We always stay in attack mode no matter who it is, how tall they are,” Mustangs coach Nick Irvin said.
The Mustangs hit five 3-pointers en route to opening a 25-16 lead late in the first quarter. That didn’t surprise Findlay coach Paul Washington.
“I’ve been knowing their coach from the AAU circuit for a while and we never thought they were just going to lay down,” Washington said.
Findlay went on a 17-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to open a 47-30 lead. But Morgan Park scrambled back to within 53-47 at the end of the third and stayed within striking distance the rest of the way. Alabama Birmingham recruit Tamell Pearson’s basket with 2:12 left got the Mustangs within 64-61, and neither team scored again.
Cameron Burrell and Illinois recruit Ayo Dosunmu added 12 points each for Morgan Park and Pearson scored 10.
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“We were lucky they ran out of gas and stopped making 3-pointers at the end,” Stevenson said.
Irvin liked what he saw.
“We had good looks,” he said. “We had a chance to beat the No. 1 team in the country. “We’re right there.”
Twitter @mikeclarkpreps
