Cleveland Picks Up Win Once Kennedy Quiets Down

Cleveland High boys basketball Coach Bob Braswell almost couldn’t hear his team win Friday night at Kennedy.

Braswell couldn’t hear his team play sluggishly for three quarters, and he couldn’t hear as his team held off a late Kennedy rally.

Braswell couldn’t hear because Kennedy fans were pounding the bleachers with their feet while Kennedy forward Marcus Malone pounded the boards for 16 rebounds and 22 points.

But when Cleveland forward Adrian King made two free throws with 30 seconds left, silencing the crowd and giving the Cavaliers a 52-46 come-from-behind victory, the reception was loud and clear.

“This is a tough place to play because of the noise factor,” Braswell said after the game.

Kennedy Coach Yutaka Shimizu, however, seemed to be a little hard of hearing.

“Noise?” Shimizu said. “I didn’t notice any noise.”

It would have been hard for anyone not to hear the racket Malone was making. Cleveland (4-1, 11-2 overall), ranked No. 2 by The Times among Valley-area teams, had difficulty containing Malone from the start.

The Golden Cougars’ 6-4 senior scored 14 points in the first half as Kennedy (3-2, 9-4 overall) forged a 34-26 halftime lead.

“I kind of like it like this,” Malone said about the noisy crowd. “It gets me motivated.”

But in the third quarter, Malone made little noise, scoring only four points and picking up his fourth foul, which sent him to the bench. Cleveland’s Joey Malinguis then sank a long-distance jumper at the buzzer to give the Cavaliers a 41-39 lead, their first lead since 2-0.

“We didn’t play good basketball until we got way down,” Braswell said. “That’s a good sign. I’m proud of these guys.”

Malone, however, felt that things could have been different.

“I feel we could have beat them,” Malone said. “We kind of slacked off on defense and lost our concentration.”

Kennedy was outscored 15-5 by the Cavaliers in the third quarter and scored only 12 points in the entire second half, but with 3:40 to play, Malone made a layup to bring Kennedy to within 48-44. Guard Cord Bailey added another score to bring Kennedy to within two, but after a Cleveland timeout, Andre Anderson sank two free throws and Malone’s next shot missed, forcing Kennedy to foul King.

“I think they were nervous on our court,” Malone said. “I could see it in their eyes.”

If the Cavaliers were nervous, they didn’t stay long after the game to get comfortable. At the final buzzer, the team made a fast break for its bus.

“We’re not even supposed to change in the locker room,” Braswell said. “I guess they figure that there will be too many fights.” Braswell was referring to a bleacher brawl that erupted on the Kennedy side of the court at the end of the third quarter.

“It happened right at the time we made our move, so maybe it helped us,” Braswell said.

Anderson led Cleveland with 15 points, while King finished with 11. King also was 5 for 5 from the free throw line.