Jahlil Okafor of Whitney Young (Chicago) led USA Basketball to an 89-64 defeat of Australia in the championship of the Gran Canaria U17 International Invitational in Las Palmas, Canary Islands.
Okafor scored 19 points despite being saddled with four fouls. Team USA advances to the U17 World Championships in Lithuania, where it will play a familiar foe, Australia, in the first round on Friday.
"Yeah, this was a good test for that," Okafor said. "We know what they can do, so we just have to pick up on their mistakes when we watch film."
Stanley Johnson of Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) added 15 points while Kendrick Nunn of Simeon (Chicago) and Stephen Domingo of St. Ignatius Prep (San Francisco) added 10 each.
Dakari Johnson of Montverde (Fla.) Academy had 10 rebounds and Tyus Jones of Apple Valley, Minn., led the team with five assists.
"Australia really came out hot," said Don Showalter, Team USA and Iowa City head coach. "They played really well. We were fortunate to be up by two at the end of the first quarter. There are some things that we need to work on to get better and starting out with more intensity is one of them."
