Prep Playoffs : CITY 3-A BOYS : ‘Mr. Hollywood’ Is Star That Denies Van Nuys, 77-69

For the second straight year, the Van Nuys High School basketball team was denied a date at the Sports Arena.

Last season, the Wolves lost on a last-second shot in the quarterfinals to Wilson.

Friday night, before a sellout crowd at Van Nuys, the second-seeded Wolves dropped a 77-69 decision to San Pedro in the City 3-A semifinals.

It was the Wolves’ luck that the City decided not to hold the 3-A semifinals at the Sports Arena this season.

Van Nuys’ chances of playing in the bright lights of Los Angeles were done in by a 5-11 guard nicknamed “Mr. Hollywood.”

Otis Livington, the Pirates’ flashy senior, took center stage Friday. The smallest player on the court made several acrobatic moves for baskets and made so many incredible passes that he had Van Nuys players in a daze.

Livingston finished with 18 points despite fouling out with 7:11 remaining in the game. At that point, San Pedro led, 58-54.

The Wolves, whose season ended at 21-3, could not take advantage of Livingston’s absence. Van Nuys closed the margin to two points several times, but never did catch the Pirates, who improved their record to 20-5.

“The team rallied together when Otis went out,” San Pedro Coach Jack Kordich said. “We decided to win it for Otis.”

San Pedro increased its lead to 66-59 with four minutes left. It then let the Wolves back in the game with some horrendous free-throw shooting.

Horrendous might be a generous term for the way the Pirates shot from the line. San Pedro missed six straight free throws at one point in the fourth quarter.

When Anthony Cook, who finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, hit a basket with 1:53 left, Van Nuys was within three at 66-63.

But San Pedro, which missed its first 10 free throws of the game, made 7 of its last 11 attempts from the line to end the Wolves’ season.

“We just got killed on the offensive boards,” Van Nuys Coach Jeff Halpern said, fighting back the tears. “I guess they wanted it more than we did. It’s hard to say what went wrong.”

Kordich instructed his center, Curt Jones, to stay with Cook when a shot went up. Jones did just that, sacrificing his own rebounding statistics, but also keeping Cook from collecting several easy shots off the boards.

While Cook had trouble getting the ball, Livingston had no such trouble electrifying the crowd. During one stretch in the first half, Livingston had a dunk and two layups when he simply challenged the 6-8 Cook.

On one play, Livingston, who had the letter H shaved on his head, went up with the ball in his right hand. As Cook’s lanky body rose to block the shot, Livingston switched the ball to his left hand and laid it in.

Livingston finished as the Pirates’ leading scorer, just ahead of Jones, who had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Pat Meyer scored 19 for Van Nuys, while Jerry Dorsey had 15.

The Pirates, seeded third in the playoffs, plays in the 3-A title game next Friday.