L. A. Games Notebook : Granada Hills Well-Guarded for Stern Test

Bob Johnson describes them as very young and very erratic, but he’ll have to call them very good, too, if his Granada Hills High basketball team continues to win in the L. A. Games tournament, which concludes Sunday with the semifinals and final at El Camino College in Torrance.

Unable to attend last week’s games because he was out of town, Johnson was pleasantly surprised when he returned to school Monday and learned that the Highlanders had won their first three contests.

“We can be very good at times and we can be horrible at others,” Johnson said. “And, apparently, last weekend was just one of those good periods.”

After squeaking by Tustin, 46-45, in a first-round game Saturday at Fremont High, Granada Hills--led by Jermoine Brantley--defeated St. Joseph, 71-49, and Inglewood, 54-51, in the second and third rounds Sunday.

Brantley averaged 10.3 points and 3.5 assists as the off-guard last season.

He also answered to the nickname Jamal then, but he wants to go by his real name now that he’s the starting point guard and approaching his senior season.

Whether it’s Jermoine or Jamal, Brantley is the only returning starter from last season’s squad, one that finished 13-9 and tied for third in the North Valley League.

He and Aaron Lattimore, a reserve forward last season, are the only players on the Highlander roster with varsity experience.

“We’re very young, but we have some talented players,” Johnson said. “Jermoine has extremely quick hands and feet.”

Brantley and Co. will be put to a severe test Saturday when they play Fremont, the defending City Section 3-A Division champion, in a fourth-round game at North Torrance High at noon.

If Granada Hills beats the Pathfinders, it will play the winner of the Manual Arts-Muir game in a quarterfinal at 3 p.m.

Add basketball: Cleveland, which lost to Westchester, 77-75, in the tournament championship last year, defeated Santa Ana Valley, 49-23, San Fernando, 60-43, and Long Beach Poly, 64-60, in games at El Camino last weekend.

The Cavaliers will play Ocean View in a fourth-round game at North Torrance High at 10 a.m. on Saturday and, if they win, will meet the winner of the Fairfax-Santa Barbara game in a quarterfinal at 1:30 p.m.

Fairfax upset Cleveland, 53-51, in the quarterfinals of the City 4-A playoffs this year. And if that isn’t enough motivation, the fact that the tournament will be Bob Braswell’s last as the Cavalier coach should give the Cleveland players added motivation.

Braswell will become an assistant coach at Long Beach State on July 1.

Last add basketball: Seedings have not meant much in this tournament as only four (No. 1-seeded Manual Arts, No. 4 Cleveland, No. 7 Westchester and No. 8 Fremont) of the top 10 teams are left.

Much of that can be attributed to the fact that seedings are often based on what the team did last season, not on how many players are returning from that team.

Disappointed Cowboy: Canyon was upset by Grant, 14-13, in a first-round football game at North Torrance High on Saturday, leaving Coach Harry Welch in a quandary.

“What’s real important is the way we play rather than how we play at this time of the year,” Welch said. “The final score isn’t as important as the intensity and effort we put forth. Unfortunately, we didn’t display much of either the other day.

“I was impressed with Grant. They competed. Their effort was really nice. I wasn’t impressed with Canyon.”

Junior quarterback Tim Beidle was impressive, however, although 11 of his passes were dropped, according to Welch.

“He threw the ball well,” Welch said. “But if our receivers keep dropping the ball like that next season, we’re not going to pass much. We’ll just keep giving the ball to (Chris) Peery.”

Peery rushed for 1,290 yards as a sophomore and 1,418 yards as a junior.