Prep Basketball BOYS : Cleveland Uses Pressure Defense and Rallies to Beat Kennedy, 55-44

Cleveland High almost waited too long to unleash its secret basketball weapon Friday night.

Trailing, 28-21, to Kennedy High with 6:29 left in the third quarter, the Cavaliers dusted off their patented pressure defense to charge to a 55-44 Valley 4-A League victory before a packed house in Reseda.

“We don’t like to press the whole game. It takes away the element of surprise,” Cleveland Coach Greg Herrick said. His team climbed to 4-0 in the league and 15-1 overall with its 11th straight win.

The only surprise was Kennedy’s patient four-corner offense, which lulled the Cavaliers to sleep and helped the visitors to a 24-21 halftime edge.

“We were playing very poor,” Herrick said after his team hit just 10 of 31 field-goal attempts in the first half.

When Cleveland finally woke up in the third quarter, they put to rest the Golden Cougars’ hope for victory. With 6-7 junior Trevor Wilson and Tyrone Mitchell leading the way, the Cavaliers scored 18 of the next 22 points and held a 39-32 lead at the third-quarter buzzer. Cleveland outscored Kennedy, 34-20, in the second half.

Wilson, who scored 17 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, scored nine in the pivotal third quarter. Mitchell ended with 11 points, seven in the last two periods.

“We live and die with our defense,” Wilson said. “But in the first half, we weren’t as intense. We were not playing aggressive defense.”

With Kennedy big men Marcus Napper and Greg Fontonette in second-half foul trouble, the Cavaliers could afford to be aggressive. Cleveland center Andre Washington grabbed 18 rebounds and scored 16 points.

The Cougars, who are now 3-1 in the league, picked up eight points each from Tony Dotson and Napper as they saw their overall record fall to 9-6. Four other players scored six points apiece.

San Fernando 41, Monroe 37

San Fernando High crawled out of the Valley 4-A League cellar with a victory over host Monroe High.

San Fernando Coach Dick Crowell said it was the worse game the Tigers had played all year. It was enough, though.

“When we play our worse game and win, you still can’t take it away from us,” Crowell said.

It looked as if Monroe didn’t want to take it away. The Vikings could manage only four points in the first and third quarters.

The Vikings made only 16 of 62 field goal attempts and five of 17 free throw attempts in losing their fourth league game and dropping to 3-11 overall.

The Tigers, 1-3 in league and 5-8 overall, were led by Maurice Walton with 14 points. Walton, a 6-3 junior, hit 10 of 13 free throw attempts, including six of eight in the fourth quarter to help preserve the victory.

Cordell Seeley added 11 points and 17 rebounds for San Fernando.

Monroe was paced by Erik Fuller, who had 12 points. Barry Thomas added seven points and 10 rebounds for the Vikings.

El Camino Real 52, Taft 50

Five points in the final 21 seconds by El Camino Real High junior guard Rick Hergott dashed Taft’s hopes of an upset in a game between neighborhood rivals.

Trailing 32-26 at halftime, host Taft came back to take the lead, 46-45, with 2:00 left in the game on a bucket by junior center Keith Franklin.

Hergott hit a 20-foot jumper to give El Camino Real the lead. He then made three consecutive free throws to ice the game.

Hergott led the Conquistadores with 13 points, while 6-7 center Anthony Hines added eight.

Franklin (14), Darren Kolinsky (13) and Kevin Franklin (12) were in double figures for Taft.

“This is the second Friday night in a row we lost 52-50 (Kennedy defeated Taft last week) against a superior team,” Toreador Coach Jim Woodard said. “We have a young team and we are still learning how to win.”

Taft is 1-3 in the Valley 4-A League and 4-9 overall. El Camino Real improved to 3-1 in league.