Westchester Pounds Cleveland and Stakes Early Claim to No. 1

Learning experiences come cheap this time of basketball season, when teams are untested and polls are only temperamental entities fluctuating somewhere between fact and fiction.

Cleveland High and Westchester each came away with a nugget of information or two in the second annual early season game-to-end-all-games-because-there-will-be-none-better affair. But it was Westchester that came away with the victory, 88-74, Friday at Westchester to lay claim to the City Section’s top billing.

The Comets, ranked No. 1 in the state by California Basketball magazine, No. 6 in the nation by USA Today and No. 2 in the City Section by The Times, outplayed Cleveland, ranked second, 25th and first, respectively, with a physical style that eventually wore the Cavaliers down. Cleveland also lost the first edition of this Tip-Off Classic of sorts, 86-77, to Simi Valley last season.

Cleveland Coach Bob Braswell said he hoped that his team learned the value of physical play and rebounding.

“Physically, they just kicked our butts,” Braswell said. “And I’m being nice in saying that.”

On the winning side, Westchester learned that it is no longer just the Sam and Zan Show--although it would be quite entertaining if it was. Sam Crawford, the Comets’ 5-9 point guard with an infectious smile and a mini-Magic game, scored 19 points and handled Cleveland’s full-court press with ease. Zan Mason was not as effective. Westchester’s 6-7 UCLA-bound All-American forward drew his fourth foul 1:30 into the second quarter and did not return until the start of the fourth. He finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds.

“Call it coach’s stupidity,” Westchester Coach Ed Azzam said regarding Mason’s foul situation. “But this is a very good team with a lot of depth. We’ve got guys coming off the bench who, on other teams in the City, they’re starters.”

Junior Damian Wilson stepped in for a game-high 23 points in Mason’s absence.

No one, however, stepped forward to lead a Cleveland offense that made 29 of 73 field-goal attempts--only 12 of 42 in the second half. Point guard Adonis Jordan scored 16 points to pace the Cavaliers, Eddie Hill had 15 and Tim Bowen added 14.

Cleveland stayed close for the first two quarters, although Jordan, who has signed with Kansas, and Lucious Harris, who will attend Long Beach State, did not start. Both missed recent practices in lieu of college visitations and were so penalized.

In a slow-moving half because of frequent fouls, Westchester increased its 3-point halftime lead to 62-51 at the end of the third quarter--even without Mason--and finished off the Cavaliers in the fourth. Cleveland was called for 41 personal fouls and 3 Cavaliers--Jordan, Hill and Warren Harrell--fouled out. The Comets were called for 20 fouls.