Prep Basketball CITY BOYS : Cerceo Still Having Fun as Granada Hills Pounds Poly

Desmond Cerceo is having fun these days.

On Wednesday, the 6-5, 185-pound senior from Granada Hills High School signed a letter of intent to play football at San Diego State. Cerceo earned that scholarship by quarterbacking the Highlander football team to its first league championship since 1977.

He was named co-MVP of the Valley 4-A League and a first-team All-City member. He is a leading candidate for MVP of Valley 3-A League after directing the basketball team to its first league title since 1976.

Cerceo is also likely to duplicate the All-City honors in basketball that he garnered last season.

Especially with performances like the one he staged Friday night in the opening round of the City 3-A playoffs.

Cerceo scored 30 points and collected 12 rebounds as the Highlanders defeated Polytechnic, 72-62, at Granada Hills.

“I would like to thank Granada Hills High School for all the good things that have happened to me,” Cerceo said.

Granada Hills is the one that should be grateful.

Cerceo was at his best in the third quarter when the Highlanders outscored the Parrots, 17-6, to take control after a 36-36 first half. Cerceo scored 10 points in the quarter, including three straight buckets in the last two minutes to increase Granada’s lead to 52-42.

“That was the best he has played all year,” Highlander Coach Bob Johnson said of Cerceo, who made 12 of 24 shots. “He scored 26 the last time we played them, but this was different. He scored 30 on good plays.”

Gary Gray, the Highlanders’ 6-6 1/2 sophomore center, had his best game of the season, according to Johnson. Gray had 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

The Parrots, who have no starter taller than 6-2, were dominated on the boards by the Highlanders, who improved their record to 15-5.

“Too much Cerceo, too much size,” Poly Coach Al Uyemura said after his team ended the season at 10-10. “We were not patient in the third quarter. Our shot selection wasn’t great. We could have passed more but we were anxious to put the shot up.”

Jack Peterson had 18 points for Granada, while Sergio Peralta had seven assists. Steve Quan, Mark Harkay and Alex Ruzich all had 13 points for Poly.

The Highlanders will play Wilson High in the quarterfinals Wednesday night.

Reseda 60, Los Angeles 57

The unthinkable nearly happened in the opening round of the City 3-A playoffs at Reseda High.

Reseda, the two-time defending champion, almost lost to a Los Angeles High team that was making its first playoff appearance in 10 years. The Regents led, 56-47, with less than three minutes remaining in the game but saw their advantage almost completely evaporate before their eyes.

With three seconds remaining and Reseda leading, 60-57, the Regents made their last effort to step out of post-season competition.

Regent Coach Dennis King called a time out and set up an inbounds play that was supposed to ice the game. But Sean Rodgers could not inbound the ball from beneath his own basket and a five-second violation was called against Reseda, turning the ball over to the Romans.

Los Angeles gave the ball to guard Doyle Balthazar, who scored a game-high 23 points, but his desperation attempt at drawing a foul while shooting was unsuccessful.

“We called a special inbounds play,” King said. “If (Sean) couldn’t get the ball in, though, he was supposed to call a time out. I think he just forgot.”

Reseda (16-6) will face San Pedro in a second round game which King said has been rescheduled for Wednesday night at the Sports Arena. The game will preceed an L.A. Clippers game.

The Regents, co-champions of the Valley 3-A League, were paced by Alan Gindlesperger, a senior guard who played on both of Reseda’s championship teams. Gindlesperger scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half. He also had seven rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots. Teammate Dexter Nickelson added 12 points and four blocked shots, while Reggie White chipped in 10 points.

Forward Derek Bell scored 13 points for the Romans, who finished their season at 14-7.