High School Notebook : Handschu Exchanges Shy Exterior for Role as Montclair Prep Leader

Montclair Prep’s Craig Handschu deceives opponents with his quiet demeanor.

The 6-2 junior guard is easygoing and shy, but put a basketball in his hands and he sheds the mild-mannered exterior for that of an intense competitor who averages 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists a game.

“He’s definitely become our team leader,” co-Coach Bob Webb said. “Craig leads by example and he’s also very verbal with his leadership. He’s not afraid to speak up if he feels like the team needs it.”

Handschu, an All-Alpha League guard who averaged 14.6 points a game as a sophomore last season, worked hard over the summer improving his skills and leadership qualities.

“He always led by example,” Webb said. “But he used to be shy and tentative around the older guys because he was only a sophomore. If he said something last year, the older guys wouldn’t really pay much attention to him. This season, everyone’s listening to what he has to say.”

Handschu also has increased his versatility, maturing into a well-rounded player.

“He’s more intense this season,” Webb said. “He really cares about his overall game now, not just his scoring. Last year, if he scored his 14 or 16 points, he was satisfied.

“Now he mixes it up inside going for rebounds and he’s also become a much better passer.”

Three’s a charm? Cleveland Coach Bob Braswell learned a lesson in the perils of three-point shooting in Wednesday’s championship game in the Chaminade tournament against Manual Arts.

Cleveland won, 84-77, but led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter when Manual Arts staged a comeback.

Trailing, 77-61, with 3:30 remaining, Manual Arts connected on four consecutive three-point bombs to get back into the game, 79-73.

Just as quickly, however, the Toilers lost the long-range touch, missing on their last two from three-point range.

“I knew the three-point line would be a learning experience for everyone this year,” said Braswell of the first-year rule. “Basketball is a game of streaks, and that shot really helps get a team back into the game--just like that.

“If we led by 24 points last year, there’s probably no way Manual gets back into the game.”

Braswell changed the Cavalier defense to pressure the outside shooters on Manual Arts’ last attempts.

“It pulled us right out of our tight zone,” he said. “The three-point shot has changed the game tremendously.”

It was definitely a part of the championship game--Manual Arts converted 10 three-pointers and Cleveland had three.

Add Cleveland: The Cavaliers advanced to the final of the Chaminade tournament for the third time in Braswell’s three years at Cleveland. The first two trips, Cleveland lost to Fairfax.

“It’s nice for us to finally win a tournament in front of our fans,” Braswell said. “We have a couple of guys that have been here all three years, and losing this thing again, I don’t even want to think about it.”

Highlanders lying low: While other teams are spending the holiday season testing the tournament waters, Granada Hills Coach Bob Johnson decided to hide his Highlanders until their Northwest Valley League opener against San Fernando on Jan. 8.

Granada Hills (4-3) has not played since defeating Grant, 90-86, in overtime to win the consolation championship of the North Hollywood tournament Dec. 19. Johnson’s team will have been idle for a stretch of 20 days, including a 10-day break from practice. The Highlanders might not be the sharpest team when they lace up their sneakers again, but they should be the most rested.

“We kind of wanted to go the holiday vacation without playing,” Johnson said. “It’ll probably hurt us. But I hope the kids are playing basketball someplace while we’re off. We made a big deal out of that at the last practice. I told them, ‘The day we come back, I’ll run you hard and you better be in shape.’ ”

Center of attention: North Hollywood’s Sandrine Rocher spent most of last season in the shadow of Debbie Herz, her All-City Section teammate. This season, however, Rocher (pronounced ro-SHAY) is the one carrying much of the team’s scoring load.

Rocher has scored 20 or more points in four of five games for North Hollywood, helping the Huskies to the consolation-bracket championship of the Gahr tournament. She scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds in North Hollywood’s 54-42 win over Millikan in the consolation final.

Not surprisingly, Coach Rich Allen likes the play of the 5-11 senior.

“She’s our Charles Barkley,” Allen said. “She doesn’t really look like a basketball player, but she can really play.”

Long time coming: When David Stratton of Moorpark was selected to the All-Inland Conference team, he became the first Moorpark football player honored at the Southern Section level since tackle Mack McDermott in 1967.

Stratton, a 6-2 senior, is a punter.

Staff writers Vince Kowalick, Steve Elling and Jim Carr contributed to this notebook.