CRESCENTA VALLEY TOURNAMENT : La Canada Buried by Late Surge

North Hollywood High relied on a defensive adjustment and a late surge Thursday to beat La Canada, 55-47, in a first-round game of the Crescenta Valley boys’ basketball tournament.

Trailing, 41-40, with six minutes to play, the Huskies mounted a 15-2 run to put the game out of reach. North Hollywood (4-0) shifted from a zone to a man-to-man defense in the fourth quarter and held the Spartans to 13 points.

“I think we were quicker than they were,” said North Hollywood Coach Steve Miller, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the Valley by The Times. “They were excellent on breaking the press and scoring on it. We probably should have switched earlier.”

Dana Jones, a 6-foot-6 center bound for Pepperdine, paced North Hollywood with 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots but was neutralized for much of the first half by Spartan center Louie Nieto (6-7).

“I came out real slow,” Jones said. “When the game started getting close, everything just picked up and I started going with the momentum.”

La Canada (2-2), ranked second in the Southern Section 3-A Division, trailed by as many as seven points in the second quarter but was revived by junior guard Jeff Lord, who scored a game-high 23 points. Only four of those points came in the final period, however.

“Toward the end, I really lost it,” Lord said. “The other guys on the team react like I react, and to see it slipping away was so frustrating.”

Four players accounted for all of La Canada’s points. In addition to Lord, Nieto scored 12, Sean Whiting scored seven and Jason Berns added five.

Harry Marks scored 12 for North Hollywood, Robert Hill scored nine, and Duane Braxton and Erick Jackson each added six.

In other first-round games:

Palmdale 59, Burroughs 46--The Falcons outscored Burroughs, 24-10, in the fourth quarter to erase a one-point deficit and cruise to victory.

Falcon forward John Johnson scored a game-high 26 points and Jason Grimes added 14. Marnie Calderon paced Burroughs (3-2) with 15 points and teammate Ray Velasquez scored 13.

Franklin 64, Burbank 55--Senior guard Alfonso Pule scored 24 points and Brad Mills added 13 to pace Franklin.

Jason Robarts and Brad Ainsworth, the only Burbank players to score in double figures, each scored 10.

Crescenta Valley 62, Murphy 51--Center Paul Matijasevic scored 20 points to help Crescenta Valley remain undefeated.

The Falcons, who outscored Murphy, 20-14, in the fourth quarter, won despite missing 13 free throws.

Murphy’s Umahl Anderson scored a team-high 20 points.