CITY BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES : Fairfax Figures to Fare Well in 4-A Final

After enjoying “the greatest feeling on Earth” with last Friday’s City 4-A semifinal win over Crenshaw, Coach Bob Braswell of Cleveland High School in Reseda now looks to the heavens.

He looks to the stars--Chris Mills, J.D. Green and Sean Higgins--of top-seeded Fairfax, the Cavaliers’ opponent tonight in the title game at 9:15 at the Sports Arena. The Lions (24-0) are No. 1 in the state, No. 2 in the nation and have already beaten Cleveland three times this season.

“There is no law that says they can’t beat us four times,” Braswell said.

It wouldn’t be much of a surprise, either. Scores of the regular-season meetings were 72-55 in the championship game of the Chaminade Tournament and 74-60 and 79-62 in the Valley League.

Still, there is always hope for Cleveland, which faced the same situation last season as decided underdogs to Crenshaw.

“Mills is the catalyst,” said Braswell, the runner-up in ’86. “He’s beaten us three times. The longer and wider courts (of the Sports Arena) may be to our advantage because their big guys can’t clog the paint and expect to get to the baseline.

“Their guards are their weak link, and guards are our strength. We need for their guards to handle the ball and dribble. Also, we can’t fall behind early like we did in the other games.”

The Fairfax guards, Eric McDaniels and Andre Durity, are averaging 7.9 and 5.0 assists a game, respectively. On this team, of course, the backcourt takes a back seat. The front line gets the headlines.

Mills: 26.1 points a game, 11.6 rebounds.

Higgins: 22.7 points a game, 8 rebounds.

Green: 21.9 points a game, 7.3 rebounds.

Cleveland (20-3) counters with a high-scoring lineup of its own, with four players in double figures: Mike Gray (16.3), Adrian King (13.4), Richard Branham (10.9) and Andre Anderson (10.6 as the sixth man). Gray, Branham and one other starter, Damon Charlot, are juniors.