Jefferson Wears Out Jones, North Hollywood, 73-69

Depth was never considered one of North Hollywood High’s strong points this basketball season. Opposing coaches reasoned that if you stopped Dana Jones, the Huskies’ 6-foot-6 junior center, then you stopped North Hollywood.

But Jefferson debunked that theory Friday night at North Hollywood, beating the Huskies, 73-69, in the first round of the City Section 3-A Division playoffs.

Jones did it all for the Huskies--accounting for 23 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and two steals. But when the game was on the line in the last minute, Jones and the rest of the Huskies were dog tired. Meanwhile, Jefferson--ignited by forward Marlon Dominguez--was shifting into overdrive.

The loss snapped North Hollywood’s 11-game winning streak.

“Their pressure was relentless and by the end of the game, the kids just couldn’t go any harder,” North Hollywood Coach Steve Miller said.

Trailing, 67-62, with 1:41 left, North Hollywood went on a 5-0 run, tying the score, 67-67, on Harry Marks’ free throws with 1:08 left. But Dominguez scored on an offensive rebound with 53 seconds left to move Jefferson back in front.

North Hollywood (15-5) got the ball back and after an Erik Jackson miss, Jones missed a tip-in, then hit the follow shot with eight seconds remaining to tie the score, 69-69. The Democrats (13-8) pushed the ball upcourt again and Dominguez scored on another follow shot after a Robert Avery miss with four seconds left.

After a timeout, Tommy Byrdsong’s inbound pass for North Hollywood was intercepted at midcourt and Marvin Allen scored at the buzzer to account for the final margin of victory.

Dominguez, who had 12 rebounds and scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, transferred to Jefferson from Los Angeles High in September, something for which Coach Andy Fujitsubo was thankful Friday.

“He’s the hardest-working player on this team,” Fujitsubo said. “He’s been crashing the boards like tonight all season long.”

Dominguez’s heroics overshadowed a strong performance by North Hollywood sophomore Jackson, who came off the bench to score 12 points--nine in the fourth quarter.

Jackson was playing in his first varsity game after being named the Mid-Valley League’s junior varsity MVP.