City Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball Semifinals : Crenshaw and Manual Arts to Meet Again in 4-A Championship Game

Crenshaw High School has its dunks and theatrics, not to mention its three state titles.

Westchester has its future, with two of the top juniors in the area coming back next season.

And Manual Arts? The consistent Toilers just go about their business, getting back to the City 4-A championship game at a rate of about once every other year.

“We’re the best-kept secret,” Manual Arts Coach Reggie Morris said. “Not only in town, but in the nation.”

Indeed, for consistency, it’s tough to beat the Toilers. And, Friday night it was, too.

Despite shooting 35% from the field, Manual Arts, with 20 points from Wayne Williams and 19 from Thurman Watson, earned its fifth title-game appearance in Morris’ 11 years by beating Westchester, 71-61, at the Sports Arena.

And, for the fifth time, the Toilers will play Crenshaw (25-0) for the championship, with each team having won twice. The Cougars, No. 1 in the state since the start of the season, easily beat Fremont of Los Angeles, 98-74, Friday night at the Sports Arena as John Staggers scored 20 points and Cornelius Holden had 15 and another great defensive effort.

UCLA-bound Darren Dafney led Fremont (14-10) with 30 points.

Crenshaw and Manual Arts meet for the championship next Friday night at the Sports Arena.

“This is an amazing team,” Morris said. “Our biggest player among our starters and main contributors (Kent Bennett) is 6-5. Everyone is 6-1 or below.

“In ‘77, which I thought was my best team, we averaged 94 points (a game). This year, we’re at 95. The three-point shot may help with a few more points. In ‘77, our average margin of victory was 30 points, and this year it’s 33. The ’77 team had the best base of all the elements. . . . This team just gets it done off style and hustle and technique.”

Against a Westchester team that played much of the game without injured star center Zan Mason, the Toilers (23-2) did it with defense down the stretch. In the final 3 1/2 minutes of the game, the Comets, playing like the tired team, scored just nine points, with four coming at the free throw line.

That they were even in it that long was because of the play of junior Sam Crawford, a 5-foot 9-inch point guard who blitzed Manual Arts from inside and out for 32 points.

This is the same Sam Crawford who was dragging en route to his locker after the game. Understandably so.

“The fourth quarter, he (Crawford) was exhausted,” Westchester Coach Ed Azzam. “I don’t know how he went on. He tried to do everything himself. Every kid out there played hard. Michael (Brown) was in here taking oxygen (after the game). He was sick all day. He gave everything he had. And he didn’t have much to start with.”

Brown, bogged down with the flu, scored nine points. But it was the absence of Mason that hurt the Comets the most.

Mason, who was held to six points while playing the whole game when Manual Arts won earlier this season, injured his right leg when a player fell on it during a scramble for a loose ball with 36 seconds left in the first quarter. He was able to walk but didn’t return and went for X-rays after the game.

In 4-A girls semifinal games:

L.A. Washington 62, Wilmington Banning 37--The Generals, the third-place finishers out of the tough Mid-City League, outscored the Pilots, 33-14, in the second half to advance to the 4-A final.

Washington (14-10) got a game-high 20 points from sophomore guard Detra Lockhart. Senior guard Rani Reado led Banning (16-7) with 18.

Westchester 72, L.A. Fremont 53--The top-seeded Comets (20-1) cruised to the win as Tammy Story scored 21 points, Trisha Stafford had 18 and Relinda Reed 16.

Fremont (13-11) got 21 points from Traci Smith.

In 3-A boys semifinal games:

LA Jordan 58, Los Angeles 52--The Bulldogs led all the way, getting 22 points from junior Stephon Davis, at Los Angeles High. George Leday and Robert Lyon had eight points each for Jordan. Senior guard Orlando Holloway led all scorers with 24 points, but it was not enough for the Romans, who finished 14-7. Jordan is 18-6.

Van Nuys Grant 62, LA University 51--The Lancers pulled away in overtime in front of a home crowd. Danny Enowitz led Grant with 26 points, and Sean Watkins scored 6 of his 10 points in overtime to seal the victory.