Grant Ends Drought, Beats University, 62-51

Grant High basketball Coach Howard Levine had a lot of time to think as he was lifted toward one of the basketball nets in Grant’s gym Friday night. He must have wondered what Grant guards Nate Conner and Sean Watkins were going to do with the large Gatorade container they were carrying toward him.

But odds were Levine was thinking about Grant’s last 28 years. And he must have been thinking about the Lancers’ last two hours and how they beat University, the top-ranked team in the City Section 3-A Division, 62-51, in overtime in the semifinal round.

Grant plays Jordan on Friday at the Sports Arena for the championship. It is the first Grant team to advance to a City basketball final in the school’s 28-year history.

“The whole Grant family is a part of this,” said Levine, who attended the school. “From the ’59 team to the teams of the ‘60s, my years. . . . they’re all a part of it.

“All the Grant boys, this is for everybody.”

Danny Enowitz, Grant’s boy this year, once again led the Lancers (20-3). Enowitz scored 26 points, including 10 in the third quarter, and pulled down 8 rebounds.

“He definitely is a great player,” University Coach Jim Nakabara said.

Enowitz, a 6-1 senior forward who was named the East Valley League’s most valuable player, had a chance to win the game in regulation. With three seconds to play and the score tied, 46-46, Enowitz threw up an 18-foot shot that bounced off the back of the rim.

But Enowitz helped Grant start the overtime with a 10-0 run when he grabbed Watkins’ missed free throw and made a quick jump shot that gave the Lancers a 50-46 lead.

“Danny played remarkable,” Levine said. “Danny played like the MVP that he is.”

If that’s the case, the East Valley League might consider giving Grant forward Setro Terzian an award for being the league’s best sixth man.

Terzian came off the bench to score 13 points and grab 9 rebounds. He had 4 points and 4 rebounds in overtime.

Grant jumped to a 28-23 first-half lead. But University (19-5), the Pac-6 League champion, outscored the Lancers, 23-14, in the first 11 minutes of the second half. The Warrior lead grew to four points, 46-42, in the fourth quarter.

Grant scored four points on jump shots by Enowitz and Watkins to tie the score, 46-46, and then outscored University, 16-5, in the three-minute overtime.

“This is a dream come true,” Enowitz said.

A 28-year-old dream.