Gray Is One Happy Cat Now That He’s Back in the Cleveland Lineup

You’ll pardon Michael Gray if he’s wearing that Miss America smile for the next few days, if that bounce in his step seems to defy gravity, if that watch on his wrist seems to tick a little slower.

Gray, the returning All-City Section guard for Cleveland High who 10 weeks ago was declared academically ineligible, will play Tuesday evening for the first time this season when the Cavaliers visit Kennedy.

He’ll break out a Cleveland uniform (“My ol’ 44,” as he endearingly refers to it) that hasn’t seen daylight since team pictures were taken before the start of the season.

Is Gray excited? Do Super Bowls bore?

“The adrenaline is there already,” said Gray, who was Cleveland’s leading scorer last season. “I feel it right now just sitting here.”

Rendered ineligible by a failing grade in a government class, Gray has been practicing on his own in Cleveland’s gym and on playgrounds near his home in Los Angeles. He thinks he’s ready.

“You just can’t hold back cattle,” he said. “When they stampede, there’s no stopping them.”

The Cavaliers (16-2, 8-1 in Valley 4-A League play) are stocked with talent at the guard position, including Damon Greer, Joey Manliguis, Adonis Jordan and, now, Gray. If City coaches aren’t feeling the pressure yet, they soon will.

“This is going to give us an opportunity to press even more than we have been pressing,” Cleveland Coach Bob Braswell said. “We’ve always been an aggressive pressing team, but foul trouble has always been a concern. With Michael back it gives us more depth.”

Gray has no notions of slipping into the starting lineup immediately. Cleveland’s backcourt has been superb, and it will take time for Gray to become reacquainted with the team’s flow.

“I’m not looking to come in and start,” he said. “We have 14 people on the team, and now I’m the 15th. . . . I’m like the new cat on the block.”

Manliguis, one of the older cats, is as excited as Braswell about Gray’s return, even if it means cutting into his own playing time.

“We need a big gunner to come into the game, and that’s what Michael Gray is,” he said. “I can’t wait. I love playing with Michael.”

And, to start, Kennedy Coach Yutaka Shimizu will be the first to deal with the newest of Cleveland’s litter.

“He just adds another perimeter shooter for them,” Shimizu said, “and he’s a better rebounder than their other guards. His return will cause some problems, that’s for sure. And they’re doing pretty well without him.”

Royal slide: After spending half the league season as a contender for a playoff berth in the Marmonte League, Royal again finds itself in the position of spoiler. The Highlanders, who have lost five consecutive league games, have fallen to 10-11, 3-7 in league play.

The skid has coincided with the absence of senior point guard Chris Myers, who contracted bacterial meningitis and is out for the season.

Royal, however, is still in a position to finish with an overall record better than .500, something the Highlanders have accomplished only twice since the program began in 1969. The last time was 1973, when Royal finished 13-10.

“It’s hard to put into words,” said Joe Malkinson, Royal’s coach. “It’s disappointing.

“We really felt we had a shot to make the playoffs, but things still look good for us. If we win the last two games I’d be extremely pleased. A 12-11 record will be a real satisfying first-year effort.

“We feel we’re going to win our last two. . . . And maybe spoil it for somebody.”

The Highlanders play at Thousand Oaks on Wednesday and at Camarillo on Friday. Both opponents are seeking playoff berths.

Here we go--again: Don MacLean, Simi Valley’s All-American center, was rumored in a recent Sports Illustrated article to be “probably” headed for Georgia Tech.

It is not necessarily so, said MacLean, who has heard himself rumored going to nearly every major university in the free world.

“I don’t know how everyone else seems to know where I’m going when I don’t even know,” he said.

Georgia Tech, however, is on his list of five final choices.

Rich get richer: Thousand Oaks, the defending Coastal Conference football champion, has lost its starting backfield to graduation but has added a talented sophomore transfer from Westlake.

Michael Lindsay, a starting halfback and co-captain on Westlake’s junior varsity, joins a strong backfield contingent moving up from the Lancers’ junior varsity ranks. Lindsay’s family moved from Westlake’s district to Thousand Oaks’ during the past football season, according to Westlake Coach George Contreras.

Contreras said Lindsay has the speed and rushing skills to be an effective high school running back.

“Obviously we would have preferred he stayed at our place because he’s a good player and a good kid,” Contreras said. “Personally, although I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt us, I hope he is very successful at Thousand Oaks.”

Taken for granted: How does a first-place team prepare for a league championship game? Should it score only nine points in the first quarter of its preceding game? Shoot 27% in the first half? Make only 7 of 13 free throws in the final four minutes?

That is not the way most teams would get ready for a big showdown, but it is the approach Grant took Friday in a 57-55 win over Poly. The Lancers play Tuesday at North Hollywood for the East Valley League championship.

Grant Coach Howard Levine admitted that his team was lucky to beat Poly, but his generosity extended only to saying that Poly played well. “We’re not going to give this fish back,” he said.

Grant (16-2, 8-0) may lose a bigger fish if the Lancers’ play against North Hollywood (14-4, 7-1) mirrors its performance against Poly (10-8, 3-5).

“If we play North Hollywood the way we played tonight,” Grant forward Danny Enowitz said Friday, “we’ll get blown out.”

North Hollywood Coach Steve Miller, who was at the game, expects to see a different Grant team.

“I don’t look at games influencing other games,” he said. “When two good teams play each other, I don’t think what happened in their last game has any bearing.”

Grant beat North Hollywood, 47-41, in the teams’ first meeting two weeks ago. If Grant beats the Huskies again, it will win the championship outright. If North Hollywood wins Tuesday and each team wins its final league game Friday, the two would be tied for the title. A coin flip would then determine who would enter next week’s City Section 3-A Division playoffs as the league’s No. 1 team.

Add Grant: The Lancers have another problem that could be more significant then the way they played against Poly.

Grant center Troy Mcleod has a sprained ankle and, although he played in that game “his mobility was affected,” Levine said.

Mcleod, who is averaging 9.1 points and 9.8 rebounds a game, had 3 points and 7 rebounds against Poly.

Levine said Mcleod, a 6-3 junior, will be at full speed by Tuesday. If he’s not, it will put more pressure on Grant’s two forwards--Enowitz and 6-0 junior Jamey Ekerling.

Enowitz, a 6-1 senior, had a season-high 17 rebounds against Poly, but the real test comes against the Huskies, whose front line consists of 6-7 Dominic Nappi, 6-3 Dana Jones and 6-3 Rashe Dorsey, with 6-7 Ralph Topps coming off the bench.

Add Enowitz: Although rebounding could be a problem for Enowitz when the Lancers travel to North Hollywood, scoring shouldn’t be.

Over the past two years, Enowitz has averaged 21.9 points in seven games at North Hollywood. Overall, he has averaged 14.2.

“I would love to play in that gym all the time,” Enowitz said. “My stats would be really inflated if I played there.”

Enowitz claims that the rims at North Hollywood are the reason for his success. “They’re so soft,” he said. “If you put the ball on the rim it’ll fall in. In our gym, if it hits the rim, it bounces out to midcourt.”

North Hollywood’s Miller agreed: “We’ve got the loosest rims in the history of the world.”

Why so loose? “Because we’ve got the worst shooters around,” Miller said.

Add North Hollywood: Alan Breslauer, the Huskies’ 6-3 swingman, probably will miss the Grant game because he still has not fully recovered from a sprained ankle, Miller said.

Dorsey, an all-league transfer from Van Nuys, has averaged 10.5 points in four games since replacing Breslauer in the starting lineup.

Staff writer Chris J. Parker contributed to this notebook.