CIF BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Cleveland Does Unto Crenshaw This Time, 87-75

Starless all season, Cleveland High discovered a new galaxy in the Sports Arena on Friday night and dethroned three-time City Section 4-A champion Crenshaw, 87-75, in a semifinal game.

The smiles on the faces of the Cavaliers and their coach, Bob Braswell, shined brightly enough to heat a solar system.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” Braswell said while holding his head in his hands. “It’s the greatest feeling on Earth. I’m flabbergasted.”

Until this win, Cleveland’s players were so anonymous the team could have been mistaken for a federal witness protection program. No player averages more than 14 points or eight rebounds a game and the Cavaliers were shorter and less experienced than Crenshaw (18-5). But Cleveland (20-3) outran and outshot the Cougars, who beat Cleveland, 95-79, in last season’s final.

“We have no stars but take pride in that,” forward Damon Charlot said. “We heard coming in that we couldn’t do without Trevor Wilson. That song is over.”

Wilson, now at UCLA, was a bona fide star last season, averaging 28 points and 15 points. This time, if one person can be pointed to for Cleveland’s success, it is Braswell, or “Braz,” as his players call him affectionately.

“Our coach is more than a coach,” Charlot said. “He’s a father to us. And we feel like a family.”

Braswell, 25, is in his second season as head coach after playing and serving as an assistant coach at Cleveland. He is regarded as a demanding coach who gets the most out of players.

But he sells them on his program. “He told us the Sports Arena is our second home,” guard Michael Gray said.

Gray, a junior, couldn’t have felt more at home had he brought an easy chair and footstool. He scored a team-high 19 points--the seventh straight game he has led the team in scoring--and made 7 of 9 shots and 5 of 5 free throws.

“Crenshaw who?” Gray screamed after the game.

Before the game, Crenshaw was asking the same question about Cleveland. That, Crenshaw Coach Willie West said, was the reason his team played poorly.

“My players were looking too far ahead,” he said, “looking to the finals and a rematch with Fairfax. I tried to prevent this but you can only do so much with kids.”

One Cougar who played two different games was forward John Staggers, who scored 26 points in the first half but had only eight in the second. Staggers, who averages 29 points a game, picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the third quarter and appeared tentative thereafter.

Tentative would be the perfect antonym to describe the game played by Cleveland guard Andre Anderson. The 5-10 senior looked at first like a lost youth who strayed on the court, but soon showed why he is Braswell’s first man off the bench.

Anderson scored 18 points and controlled the tempo the way Zubin Mehta handles an orchestra. Anderson had eight assists and five steals, and his long overhand pass to Adrian King with three seconds left in the third quarter enabled Cleveland to regain the lead after having fallen behind, 52-48, at halftime. King made the layup, was fouled, and made the free throw to give Cleveland a 66-64 lead.

Cleveland outscored Crenshaw, 21-11, in the fourth quarter.

“I felt it was ours after the third quarter,” Anderson said. “We were relaxed in the fourth quarter and didn’t let their press bother us.”

Said Braswell: “I needed someone to handle the ball and Andre did it. “

Cleveland advances to the City final next Friday at the Sports Arena against Fairfax, a 79-66 winner over Dorsey on Friday.