ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Charlot Is Toast of the Town : Cleveland’s ‘Chaser’ Tracked Mills Into Zone of No Return

It sounds more like a cocktail than a defensive alignment. And for Chris Mills, Fairfax High’s 6-7 All-American center, this dizzying concoction tasted a little heavy on the bitters.

“It’s called a 1-3 zone with a chaser,” Cleveland forward Damon Charlot said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. I know we never used it.”

Mills, who entered the game averaging 37 points in Valley League games, was the target.

Charlot was the designated-chaser. Coach Bob Braswell was the Mixmaster.

And afterward, the Cleveland pair was the toast of the town.

Charlot held Mills to a season-low seven points as Cleveland defeated Fairfax, 54-50, last Wednesday.

It appeared early that Charlot would be about as essential as a lime squeeze in a beer. Instead, Charlot was the stick that stirred the drink.

“The day before the game, we spent the latter part of practice running through the 1-3,” Braswell said. “And Earl Bodden looked like he was going to be the guy chasing Mills. Charlot wasn’t doing anything right.”

Bodden, however, is not a starter. Braswell said he thought he would just substitute for Charlot in the first half, sending in Bodden.

“I thought Bodden would be in there by the second quarter,” Braswell said. “I figured Charlot would be pretty tired by then.”

Charlot was tired. But he was also very effective. Mills had only one point by halftime--Charlot played the entire half--and was just 3 of 11 from the field in the game.

“He was basically our second choice, and he ends up playing about 28 minutes while Earl played about four,” Braswell said. “He really turned it around--in practice, Damon was horrible.”

Fairfax was stymied by the 1-3 zone, which provided support for Charlot when Mills tried to get loose along the baseline. Braswell said Cleveland had never used the defense and that Cal State Long Beach assistant Dereck Whittenburg suggested the formation to him in December. Whittenburg was a guard for North Carolina State’s 1983 NCAA championship team.

“I was still talking about what Mills did to us in the first game,” Braswell said. “And Dereck suggested the 1-3. I’d never really heard of it.

“When I got home, I diagrammed it a couple of times in bed, and it looked like it could actually work. I mean, why not try it?”

Charlot, a 6-3 senior, scored seven points himself, although he does not remember much about what took place at the offensive end of the court.

“I just wish I could have seen the game,” Charlot said. “I got home and had to ask my mom who scored all our points. All I could see was a big number 42.”

That is the jersey number worn by Mills. It is also the number of points he scored when Fairfax defeated Cleveland in December, 78-69. Wednesday’s win snapped a six-game Fairfax winning streak over the Cavaliers.

“We talked about that before the game, too,” Charlot said. “We talked about how we beat Crenshaw last year, and Cleveland had always lost to Crenshaw. We knew we could do it.”

Charlot said Mills, the City Section 4-A Division player of the year as a junior, is the best player he has seen, which only added to the thrill.

“I told his dad after the game that he’s definitely an NBA player,” Charlot said. “I’m not one to be giving a lot of praise to other players, but he could be the best high school player ever. I can tell my kids when he’s in the NBA that I helped hold him to seven points.”

Meanwhile, Charlot has become a celebrity himself.

“Oh, man, I have people coming up to me that I’ve never even seen at Cleveland before,” he said with a laugh. “Teachers, students. It’s been incredible. Shoot, the game was a week ago.”

Mills and Fairfax, however, are still feeling the hangover.