San Fernando Rallies to Beat Granada Hills : Tigers Overcome a 9-Point Deficit

All season, coaches have insisted Granada Hills High wouldn’t easily win the Northwest Valley League championship, as it did the previous two seasons.

San Fernando proved them right on Wednesday.

Rallying from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter without its scoring leader, San Fernando upset Granada Hills, 70-66, at the Sports Arena.

San Fernando played exceptionally in the second half, but Granada Hills was equally responsible for the Tigers’ comeback.

After shooting 56% in the first half, the Highlanders hit only 43% of their shots in the second half and committed 10 turnovers.

“Everytime we had the opportunity to do something and really break it open, we’d do something that would give the ball back to them,” Granada Hills Coach Bob Johnson said. “They got running on us and shut us down.”

Said Highlander center Gary Gray, who had a game-high 35 points and 12 rebounds: “We just fell apart today and didn’t handle the pressure well. They got all the loose balls and took advantage of their opportunities.”

Shelton Boykin, who leads San Fernando with a 17.3 scoring average, got his fourth personal foul with seven minutes left in the third quarter. He left with his team trailing by six.

San Fernando gave up two quick baskets, then outscored Granada Hills, 11-0, and led, 44-43, midway in the quarter.

San Fernando, with 61% shooting and an aggressive defense, led by five before taking a three-point advantage into the fourth quarter. Granada Hills never regained the lead.

In the 11 minutes they played without Boykin, the Tigers outscored Granada Hills, 31-21.

San Fernando, which led, 70-66, missed the front ends of three one-and-one situations in the final 45 seconds, but Granada Hills was unable to take advantage, turning the ball over twice and missing a shot on the other opportunity.

Five San Fernando players scored in double figures, led by Tory Stephens and Sean Declouet. Stephens, a 6-1 junior, hit three of four shots and scored eight of his career-high 19 points in the third quarter. Declouet, who scored 16, also had eight points in the period.

“When Shelton went out everyone was down, someone had to take over,” Declouet said.

Afterward, San Fernando Coach Dick Crowell called the win the Tigers’ biggest of the season, but he was worried before the game. San Fernando (7-6, 1-1 in league) was coming off a one-point loss to Birmingham and hadn’t practiced well Monday or Tuesday.

“They were bitching at each other during practice and weren’t shooting well,” Crowell said. “I chewed them out, but they said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be ready.’ ”

Early on, it appeared that Crowell’s concerns were warranted. San Fernando shot only 30% in the first quarter and was giving up easy baskets to Granada Hills (9-3, 1-1), which had won eight of nine.

After missing his first two shots, Gray hit his next eight and looked unstoppable while scoring 21 first-half points. Gray scored 14 points in the second half, but most of those came on offensive rebounds as the Highlanders couldn’t get the ball to him down the stretch.

SAN FERNANDO--Boykin 10, Declouet 16, Thomas 2, Stephens 19, Mauldin 13, Hill 10.

GRANADA HILLS--Puathasnanon 8, Brown 7, Gray 35, Smith 9, Johnson 1, Lytle 6.