Middleton Takes Control for Taft in 69-55 Victory

His friends call him Bo Bo, but Boom Boom might make a better nickname.

Tony Middleton, dubbed Bo Bo by his teammates because he is bowlegged, realized that someone needed to make the necessary noise Friday night in the Taft High gym because Dedan Thomas, the Toreadors’ leading scorer, was silenced without a field goal in the first half.

“They were just buzzing him like flies,” said Middleton, a senior forward. “I felt I had to take over in the scoring column.”

Scoreless in the first quarter, Middleton went off like a machine gun in the second, scoring 13 points--including 10 in a row--and finishing with a team-high 22 and 13 rebounds as the Toreadors mowed down Granada Hills, 69-55, to create a second-place tie with Kennedy in the North Valley League.

Taft (15-3, 5-2 in league play) will play host to Kennedy, an 82-42 loser to Cleveland, on Friday.

“Thirteen and 22--That’s a good game,” Taft Coach Jim Woodard said of Middleton’s effort. “He’s scored more points, but that’s his best game.”

Thomas made 4 of 6 free throws in the first quarter to account for all his first-half scoring. Every time he dribbled toward the basket he usually was greeted by a wall of sweaty green jerseys and a shrill whistle.

All told, the Highlanders (11-7, 3-4) spent 6 of their 15 fouls on Thomas, who adjusted by making 7 of 10 free throws en route to 15 points.

“We were just playing him straight man-to-man,” Granada Hills Coach Bob Johnson explained. “ Heavy man-to-man.”

Thomas was 0 for 5 from the field in the first half and 4 of 11 overall. “They kept someone on me all the time,” Thomas said. “Made me real tired.”

And it made the ball hotter than a baked potato. Thomas managed 10 assists and 6 steals.

“He didn’t score a lot of points,” Woodard said. “But who controls the game? Who beats the press?”

Woodard might have added, “And who feeds the ball to Middleton?”

Middleton made 10 of 14 field-goal attempts. His second-quarter scoring blitz helped extend the Toreadors’ precarious 13-10 first-quarter lead to 33-24 by halftime.

Thomas opened the second half with a short jump shot, Middleton added 4 quick points and Granada Hills, in the unenviable position of last place in the 4-team league, was never again closer than 7.

“They’re gonna score on you,” Johnson said. “And we didn’t shoot well. I don’t know what we shot, but it was horrible.”

Not a bad adjective to describe 16-of-50 shooting. Granada Hills senior forward Alvin Brown (5-of-14 shooting) scored a game-high 25 points and added 11 rebounds.

Brown’s total, however, was bolstered by 3 3-point baskets during hurry-up-and-shoot time in the fourth quarter.

Taft made 26 of 50 field-goal attempts and 17 of 25 free throws.