City Section Boys’ Basketball : Crow Delivers 24 in El Camino Real Upset

With starting forwards Brent Lofton and Jason Farrell scratched from the lineup, El Camino Real High Coach Mike McNulty needed one of his lesser-known players to step forward in a Northwest Valley Conference game against Granada Hills on Wednesday.

So Charlie Crow, a 6-2 senior, delivered in the clutch at El Camino Real, scoring a game-high 24 points in the host Conquistadores’ 62-57 upset of the Highlanders, the fourth-ranked team in the Times Valley poll.

Lofton (21.9 points a game, 10.3 rebounds) was recovering after collapsing Sunday night because of dehydration, and Farrell was out with bronchitis.

In their absence, Crow made 10 of 16 field-goal attempts and 4 of 6 free throws as El Camino Real (4-5, 1-1 in conference play) snapped a 4-game losing streak.

Jason Steele’s basket broke a 48-48 tie early in the fourth period and Granada Hills (9-4, 1-1) never recovered. Steele scored 10 of his 14 points in the final period.

Bertram Mitchell and Mike Stasiak, who replaced Lofton and Farrell in the starting lineup, each scored 8 points for El Camino Real.

“We played a half-court trapping defense and it seemed to bother them some,” El Camino Real assistant Jeff Davis said of Granada Hills. “Our goal was to slow down their offensive attack and we accomplished that.

“We didn’t want to let them run on offense. You can’t let Granada Hills run on offense or they’ll kill you.”

Playing without guard John Johnson (flu) for the second consecutive game, the Highlander attack was sluggish. Center Joey Rosas scored 13 points and forwards Alvin Brown and Aaron Lattimore added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

NORTHWEST VALLEY CONFERENCE

Taft 81, Canoga Park 33--With Canoga Park’s 97-point loss to Cleveland last Friday fresh in his mind, Toreador Coach Jim Woodard only played his starters in the first and third quarters at Taft.

As a result, 9 of Taft’s 10 players scored, led by Dedan Thomas, who had 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. Thomas, who has signed a letter of intent to attend Nevada Las Vegas, also had 11 assists and 11 steals. Tony Middleton added 13 points and 9 rebounds for Taft (12-1, 2-0).

Sean Reyes scored 14 points for Canoga Park (2-10, 0-2).

VALLEY PAC-8 CONFERENCE

North Hollywood 54, Birmingham 51--Tyrone Craig’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer would have sent the game into overtime, but the ball caromed off the back of the rim and North Hollywood prevailed.

Dana Jones led North Hollywood (7-4, 2-0) with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 blocked shots. Ed Davis added 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Craig led Birmingham (5-7, 1-1) with 12 points.

Grant 57, Reseda 51--Forward Setro Terzian snapped out of a season-long slump with 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Lancers won at home.

Terzian, who entered the game averaging 6 points, made 7 of 10 field-goal attempts and 3 of 9 free throws.

Sean Watkins came off the bench to score 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting for Grant (9-3, 1-1).

Michael Hawkins scored 17 points and Mike Basowski added 11 for Reseda (3-8, 1-1).

Poly 50, Van Nuys 47--Hugo Parra and Scott Cooper each made 2 free throws in the final minute as Poly erased a 47-46 deficit and won at home.

The Parrots trailed, 38-37, after 3 quarters but forced 6 turnovers to ignite their fourth-quarter rally.

Six players scored for Poly in the final quarter. Senior forward John Bruner led the Parrots (6-6, 1-1) with 19 points and 7 rebounds.

Charles Foster scored a game-high 20 points for Van Nuys (0-2 in league play).

Monroe 79, Sylmar 74--Monroe held off a Sylmar rally to win at home.

Clarence Pattin scored a game-high 33 points, Robert Flores had 17 and Andre Robinson added 10 for Sylmar (3-5, 1-1).

Darrell White led Monroe (2-7, 1-1) with 25 points. Mike Enriquez added 21.

NORTHERN CONFERENCE

Belmont 79, Sherman Oaks CES 61-- Marcus Littlejohn scored a game-high 30 points in a losing effort for Sherman Oaks CES (5-6, 1-3).