Birmingham Clinches a Tie for Title, 83-57

Birmingham High clinched a tie for the Northwest Valley League basketball title Friday night with an 83-57 victory over Canoga Park.

It was the Braves’ 17th straight win.

“We’re pretty excited,” Birmingham Coach Jeff Halpern said. “We have been waiting to get to this point, wondering if there would be a letdown or if one of these teams would knock us off along the way.”

Birmingham (18-1, 8-0) has only two games left--both at home--before the City 3-A playoffs begin. Only Granada Hills and Monroe, teams the Braves already have defeated, stand in the way of an unbeaten league record for Birmingham.

“We’re taking them one at a time,” said Halpern, who is in his first season at Birmingham. “We still have Granada Hills and they’re real tough.”

Birmingham had four players score in double figures: Ennerea Maxwell (25), Keith Owens (12), Charles Johnson (12) and Adam Zuckerman (11). Maxwell and Owens each had nine rebounds.

Fred Wilson had 14, Andre Ball had 13, Darren Caldwell had 12 points and Oral Elrington had 12 for Canoga Park.