WINTER SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS : Gray Returns to Form, Leads Granada Hills Rally Over Canoga Park

Senior Gary Gray scored a game-high 24 points and was one of three Highlanders to score in double figures Friday night as Granada Hills beat Canoga Park, 65-57, in a Northwest Valley League game at Canoga Park.

Gray also had 21 rebounds and three blocked shots for Granada Hills, which led by eight at halftime. Canoga Park tied the score at 55 with 1 1/2 minutes left, but Granada Hills clinched the victory with a 10-2 run. Gray broke the tie with a pair of inside baskets to give Granada Hills a four-point advantage.

“Gary hasn’t been rebounding as well as I think he could be,” Granada Hills Coach Bob Johnson said. “He concentrated on his rebounding tonight and really worked at it. We felt like we had to play better defense. We tried to pressure Canoga Park and it worked. The only problem was we just kept turning the ball over to them. If we hadn’t played such good defense, we would have probably lost.”

The Highlanders (11-4, 3-2 in league) also got 12 points from Sam Puathasnanon and 10 from Terrell Smith. Canoga Park (7-8, 2-3 in league) was led by Oral Elrington, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Birmingham 87, Monroe 48--Keith Owens scored 16 points, Damon Buford had 14 and Ennerea Maxwell and Adam Zuckerman scored 13 apiece for Birmingham in the Northwest Valley League game at Monroe. Ronnie Grant scored 13 points for Monroe (0-5 in league) and Baril Fleming had 10. Birmingham (5-0 in league) outscored Monroe 26-2 in the first quarter.

San Fernando 60, Chatsworth 49--Joe Mauldin had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists to lead San Fernando to the Northwest Valley League win at home. San Fernando led, 45-42, at the end of the third quarter, and then outscored Chatsworth, 15-7, the rest of the way. Shelton Boykin added 16 points and six rebounds and Sean DeClouet had 12 points for San Fernando (10-6, 4-1 in league). Chatsworth (5-8, 1-4 in league) was led by Kendell McDaniels, who scored 14.

Fairfax 111, El Camino Real 53--Chris Mills scored 31 points to lead Fairfax (15-0, 7-0 in league in a Valley League game at Fairfax. Sean Davis had 28 points and 16 rebounds for El Camino Real (5-10, 1-6 in league). Fairfax held a 58-28 lead at halftime.

Kennedy 75, Hamilton 54--Marcus Malone scored a game-high 36 points and Clarence Williams added 14 points for Kennedy (10-5, 4-3 in league) in the Valley League game at Hamilton. Steven Green led Hamilton (1-12, 1-6 in league) with 16 points.

Poly 68, Verdugo Hills 44--Jorge Ramos had 20 points, 10 assists and 7 steals for Poly in the East Valley League game at Poly. Carlos Ortiz scored 17 points, Mike Huff had 12 points and 14 rebounds and Mike Ornelas had 10 points for Poly (10-5, 4-1 in league).

Simi Valley 77, Newbury Park 62--Senior Don MacLean scored a game-high 20 points and had 11 rebounds for Simi Valley (19-1, 11-0 in league) in the Marmonte League game at Newbury Park. Travis Bice added 16 points for Simi Valley and Shawn DeLaittre had 15. The game was tied at halftime at 35, but Simi Valley took a 53-46 lead after the third quarter. Shawn Jeffers led Newbury Park (7-11, 2-5 in league) with 15 points and David Pessin had 12.

Channel Islands 53, Thousand Oaks 44--Victor Caro scored 13 points to lead Channel Islands (8-9, 3-4 in league) in a Marmonte League upset at Channel Islands. Channel Islands used a full-court pressure defense and a fast break offensive game plan to lead the entire game. Gerald Boyd added 12 points and 12 rebounds for Channel Islands. Paul Schlossman scored 12 points for Thousand Oaks (5-2 in league).

Westlake 74, Royal 65--Paul Keenan scored 22 points and Kim Henderson added 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead Westlake (14-5, 5-2 in league) in a Marmonte League game at home. Royal jumped to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, but Westlake battled back to tie the game at halftime, 32-32. Westlake outscored Royal, 20-10, in the third quarter and never trailed. Bill Fassl keyed the second-half comeback for Westlake with 11 points and 8 rebounds. Rey Noyes had 12 points for Royal (2-13, 1-6 in league).

Hart 71, Schurr 57--Mike Michelson made 8 of 10 shots and scored 21 points to lead Hart to the Foothill League win at home. Hart (10-8, 4-1 in league), which is tied for first place with Burbank, made 61% of its field-goal attempts. Jim Bonds of Hart had four points, six rebounds and eight assists.

Oak Park 69, Filmore 39--Brian Friefeld scored 25 points for Oak Park (6-8, 3-3 in league) in a Tri-Valley League game at Filmore. Mike Birch had 15 points and Jon Cole added 8 assists for Oak Park. Larry Roberts scored 11 points for Filmore (5-11, 1-5).

Van Nuys 74, Sylmar 51--Rashe Dorsey had 22 points and 8 rebounds to lead Van Nuys (6-8, 3-2 in league) in the East Valley League game at Sylmar. Van Nuys’ Larry Keys added 12 points and Alonzo Galloway had 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Burbank 61, Burroughs 49--Chris Buck had 15 points, and Abo Velasco and Bryan Chandler each scored 12 points to lead Burbank to the Foothill League win at Burroughs.

Burbank (13-6, 4-1 in league), which is tied for first place, made 19 of 34 free throws, while Burroughs (4-11, 0-5 in league) was 5 of 7. Tom Kelly led Burroughs with 14 points.

Bel Air Prep 57, Faith Baptist 48--John Yaker scored 14 points and Derrick Thornton added 13 for Bel Air Prep (10-6, 6-1 in league) in the Delphic League game at Faith Baptist. Shaik Nabi scored 14 points and Jason Henderson had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Faith Baptist (6-9, 3-4 in league).

L.A. Baptist 49, Maranatha 38--Mike Null scored 21 points to pace L.A. Baptist (11-4, 4-2 in league) in a Alpha League game at home. L.A. Baptist made 63% of its field-goal attempts and Jon Amstutzs grabbed 10 rebounds. Bill Gustafson had 14 points for Maranatha (7-8, 1-5 in league).

West Valley Christian 66, Camarillo Christian 43--Jim Reeve had 19 points and eight rebounds for West Valley in the Christian Schools Athletic Conference game at West Valley. Bobby Gaskill had 17 points and 10 rebounds for West Valley (7-4, 3-1 in league) and John Stalboerger added 12. Martin Perez led Camarillo Christian (1-7, 0-4 in league) with 24 points.

Bell-Jeff 76, La Salle 57--Sheamus Martin of Bell-Jeff had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the Santa Fe League game at La Salle. Bell-Jeff also was led by Chris Dyer, who had 17 points, and Chris Dourisboure, who had 16.

South Bay Lutheran 71, Grace Community 64--Grace Community got 27 points from Scott Lechuga, but was outscored, 9-2, in the final 40 seconds and lost the Westside League game at home. Anthony Serra added 14 points for Grace Community (7-7, 4-1 in league).

Camp Kilpatrick 77, Campbell Hall 73 (OT)--Lloyd Reid scored 20 points to lead Camp Kilpatrick (10-5) in a nonleague game at Campbell Hall. Camp Kilpatrick’s Vaughn Harper, who scored 17 points, secured the victory with two free throws late in the overtime period. Gilbert Ruff added 14 points for Camp Kilpatrick. Donnie Sakaida had a game-high 46 points for Campbell Hall (8-5).

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Kennedy 65, Van Nuys 36--Diane DeCree had 22 points and 18 rebounds, Yolanda Lewis had 14 points and Tisa Rush had 13 points and 10 steals for Kennedy in the Valley League game at Van Nuys. Kennedy (13-3, 5-0 in league) blew the game open in the second quarter when it outscored Van Nuys (1-4 in league) 24-7. DeCree had 10 points in the second quarter and Lewis had eight.

Reseda 68, Taft 41--Cheryl Hightower had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Vee Jones had 15 points for Reseda in the West Valley League game at Reseda. Aggie Garcia added 11 points and 16 rebounds and Dana Jones had 10 points for Reseda (8-1, 4-1 in league). Taft was led by Bridget Davis with 15 points. Hightower had 11 points in the first half and Vee Jones had 10 as Reseda built a 37-19 halftime lead.

North Hollywood 60, Grant 35--Debbie Herz had 16 points and 16 rebounds, Leti Carranza scored 13 points and Sandrine Rocher had 12 points for North Hollywood in the West Valley League game at Grant. Christa Smith scored 14 points and Marissa Benetua had 13 for Grant (1-7, 0-5 in league). North Hollywood blew the game open in the third quarter when it outscored Grant 18-3.

Birmingham 59, Canoga Park 41--Shaggaro Lattin scored 17 points and Alex Marrodan had 11 for Birmingham (10-5, 3-2 in league) in a West Valley League game at Birmingham. Roz Linton led Canoga Park (2-3 in league) with 11 points.

Verdugo Hills 39, Poly 30--Stephanie Ma and Glenda Calbo had 10 points each as Verdugo Hills (1-8, 1-4 in league) broke an eight-game losing streak in the East Valley League game at Verdugo Hills. Poly was led by Ellie Villalobos with 12.

Cleveland 47, Chatsworth 45--Nancy Nicholls made a five-foot shot with 20 seconds remaining to give Cleveland the Valley League win at Cleveland. Dawn Greer stole the ball for Cleveland with 15 seconds left to preserve the victory. Nicholls had 16 points and 20 rebounds and Dawn Stewart had 10 points and 17 rebounds for Cleveland (5-4, 4-1 in league). Felice Dorsey had 11 points for Chatsworth and Valerie Arst added 10 points and Latania Dorsey had 19 rebounds.

Monroe 48, Hollywood 46 (OT)--Monroe made 5 free throws in overtime and 16 of 28 free throws in the game to key the win at Hollywood. Annette Robinson scored 18 points and grabbed 26 rebounds and teammate Sonja Boozer pulled down 24 rebounds and to lead Monroe (5-3, 4-1 in league) in the Pac-6 League game. Hollywood (2-3 in league), which trailed by 10 points early in the fourth quarter fought back to send the game into overtime behind Mary Lou Lopez’ 14-point performance.

Crossroads 53, Campbell Hall 48--Campbell Hall was outscored 18-12 in the fourth quarter as Crossroads (6-0 in league) took over first place in the Delphic League with the win at Crossroads. Campbell Hall (8-3, 4-1 in league), ranked No. 8 in the Southern Section Small Schools Division, was led by Tracey Sylvester with 14 points. Roxanne Owens led Crossroads with 15 points.

Holy Martyrs 61, Pilibos 26--Ayline Amirayan scored 21 points and Carolile Zouloumian added 16 in a nonleague win at Holy Martyrs. Amirayan also had five assists. Dalia Gezenian had 14 rebounds for Holy Martyrs (10-2, 3-1 in league).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Valley College 75, San Bernardino Valley 58--Dametra Johnson had 30 points and 9 rebounds and Bernadette Tillis scored 22 points for Valley in the Southern California Conference game at Valley. Valley (17-3, 5-0 in conference) took sole possession of first place with the win. San Bernardino (13-8, 3-2) was led by Theandra Sams with 18 points.

Biola 56, Cal Lutheran 47--Mary Beth Nelson scored 18 points and had 14 rebounds, both game highs to lead Biola (15-4) in a nonleague contest at Cal Lutheran. Biola’s Lisa Jones added 16 points and 13 rebounds and Kim Norman went 6 of 6 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to hold off a Cal Lutheran comeback attempt after trailing 30-16 at halftime. Gloria Phillipps scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds for Cal Lutheran (5-11).

BOYS SOCCER

L.A. Baptist 1, Maranatha 1--L.A. Baptist’s Mike Moran scored a goal with seven minutes remaining to tie the Alpha League game at L.A. Baptist. Marc Wilson scored Marantha’s goal with 12 minutes gone in the second half. Goalkeeper Mike Eden had 19 saves for L.A. Baptist (1-7-7, 1-2-3 in league). Marantha is 3-1-2 in league. L.A. Baptist has tied its last three games.

Calabasas 1, Santa Paula 0--With 1:30 gone in the second overtime, Jordan Fischer headed in a pass from Paul Radcliffe to give Calabasas (10-2-2, 3-0-1 in league ) sole possession of first place in the Frontier League.