Statwatch : Press Forgives Missed Shots by Cleveland

Can a team go 5-0 against top-flight competition from across the United States and win a 30-team tournament while making only 48.6% of its field-goal attempts?

Cleveland can. And its average margin of victory was 16.8 points.

The Cavaliers barely outshot opponents--who shot a combined 46.3%--in the Las Vegas Holiday tournament last week. But the Cavaliers forced so many additional shots with their pressing defense that it probably would not have mattered had Cleveland shot 40%.

Cleveland (9-2) forced 141 turnovers (28.2 a game) and committed just 67 turnovers (13.4 average) despite its up-tempo pace on offense. The turnover ratio enabled the Cavaliers to attempt 55 more field goals than the opposition.

For the tournament, Cleveland made 158 of 325 field-goal attempts; opponents made 125 of 270.

Shooting: Cleveland senior guard Adonis Jordan made 40 of 81 field-goal attempts (49.4%) in the tournament and averaged 19 points but was just as important as a team quarterback. Jordan turned the ball over only 11 times and keyed a strong defensive effort. . . . Grant center Chris Cooke scored 21 points and made 10 of 14 field-goal attempts in the Lancers’ 69-63 victory against Poly in the final of the Birmingham tournament.

Scoring: Five Calabasas players--Guy Hamilton (10.6), Greg Waugh 10.0), Jim Friedlander (10.9), Jason Young (9.1) and Jamie Boyce (10.5)--are averaging within a point of 10 points a game. Boyce, however, suffered a broken collarbone and is out for the season.

Hoover guard John Hillman’s 40 points against Sonora in the Estancia Classic broke the tournament’s single-game scoring record. Hillman, who is averaging 28 points, had 113 points in the tournament, 6 shy of the 4-game record.

Miscellany: Twelve games into the season and Royal (5-7) will play its first home game tonight against Camarillo. . . . L. A. Baptist’s 41-31 loss to Bishop Diego in the opening round of the Carpinteria tournament, after a 54-40 loss to Faith Baptist in the championship of the Fillmore tournament, marked the first time since 1983 that the Knights have lost consecutive games.

VALLEY BASKETBALL TOP 10 Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Cleveland N. Valley 9-2 2 2 Taft N. Valley 10-1 3 3 Rio Mesa Channel 7-3 4 4 Granada Hills N. Valley 8-2 5 5 Grant East Valley 8-2 6 7 Bell-Jeff S.F. Valley 11-1 7 8 Kennedy N. Valley 7-3 8 NR Chatsworth W. Valley 8-3 9 10 Newbury Park Marmonte 9-2 10 NR Burroughs Foothill 8-5

NR--Not ranked.

Through Tuesday’s games.