City Section Boys’ Basketball Playoffs

Manual Arts 89, El Camino Real 45--The Conquistadores fell behind in the first quarter, 20-2, and played a futile game of catch-up for the duration of the 4-A matchup.

“We came out real nervous and missed four or five easy layups in the first couple minutes,” El Camino Real Coach Mike McNulty said. “Instead of being down, 20-2, it should have been like 22-18. We were playing our kind of offense, but we missed the shots.”

El Camino Real (5-15) shot 33.9% (19 of 56) from the field, and its leading scorer, Brent Lofton, was held to 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting.

Bell 68, Birmingham 66--Birmingham chased the Eastern League champion with 33 points in the fourth quarter but came up short in the 3-A game.

Guard Panaka Chea scored 19 points--all in the fourth quarter--as the Braves began to chip away at the Eagles’ 19-point lead with seven minutes to play.

Birmingham (11-9) took the lead, 66-65, with 1:11 left on a layup and free throw by Chea.

But Bell made three free throws in the final minute to win. Bell made 22 of 33 free throws, while Birmingham made 22 of 43.

North Hollywood 56, Marshall 47--Danny Klein scored 9 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to propel North Hollywood to a come-from-behind win in a 3-A game.

The Huskies (17-4) trailed, 41-37, after three quarters, and took their first lead early in the final period during a 12-2 run. Klein made 5 of 6 free throws in the final five minutes, and Dana Jones added four points as North Hollywood finished strongly.

Jones finished with 20 points and 8 rebounds.

Hank Hou, who led Marshall with 16 points, and Joe Rodriguez, who scored 12, boosted Marshall for three quarters. North Hollywood, however, outscored Marshall, 19-6, in the final quarter. North Hollywood plays Los Angeles, a 62-51 winner over South Gate.

Wilson 59, Poly 56--Poly was eliminated in the first round of the 3-A Division for the fourth consecutive year. But the game was close with the lead changing hands six times.

Poly led, 44-34, with 2:52 left in the third quarter but after Wilson opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run, Poly trailed, 50-48. Poly tied the score twice thereafter, but Danny Rodriguez made a three-point shot with two minutes left to give the Mules a 57-54 lead.

Scott Cooper led Poly (12-9) with 13 points. Bobby Ntoya added 12.