Granada Hills Disposes of Taft Behind Brown’s 28

Cleveland High Coach Bob Braswell calls him the “Garbage Man.”

Taft Coach Jim Woodard chastises him for lack of defensive skills.

Opposing fans poke fun at his bulk (6-5, 250 pounds).

But say what you want about Granada Hills’ Alvin Brown, he gets the job done more often than not.

Friday night, Brown scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Highlanders to a 68-56 upset of Taft in a North Valley League game at Granada Hills.

The game meant nothing to Taft (16-5, 6-4 in league play), which has sewn up second place in the North Valley, but the win moved Granada Hills (13-8, 5-5) into a tie for third with Kennedy and could give the Highlanders a slightly weaker first-round opponent when the City Section playoffs open next week.

But how about that Brown?

“Maybe he’s not perfect in everything, but I wouldn’t trade him,” Granada Hills Coach Bob Johnson said. “He’s big and round, and he doesn’t jump well, but he gets the ball in the basket.”

Taft’s Woodard was slightly less complimentary.

“It’s boom, score. Boom, score,” said Woodard, lowering his shoulder and leaning into a reporter, mimicking Brown’s play around the basket.

Woodard was also displeased that David Puathasnanon, father of former Highlander basketball star Sam Puathasnanon, was one of the officials.

Puathasnanon called a charging foul on Taft’s Tony Middleton (20 points and a game-high 17 rebounds) in the fourth quarter, and moments later, after Brown had “nudged” Middleton off the floor to score a layup, Puathasnanon whistled Woodard for a technical foul when the latter argued for a foul on Brown.

Brown, who scored 20 points in the second half and was nine of 14 from the floor and nine of 12 from the free-throw line, converted both foul shots for a 65-54 Highlander lead with 2:07 to play.

Taft had closed to 55-54 midway through the period on a three-point basket by Middleton, but Granada Hills went on a 13-0 run over the next three minutes to break the game open.

Toreador guard Dedan Thomas, bound for Nevada Las Vegas, made his first shot then missed the next eight and finished with two points and 12 assists.