CRESCENTA VALLEY TOURNAMENT : Jones, N. Hollywood Rally to Reach Final

North Hollywood High, trailing by eight points midway through the third quarter, rallied behind All-City Section center Dana Jones on Friday night to defeat Palmdale, 61-51, in a semifinal game of the Crescenta Valley tournament.

Jones scored 12 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter. The Huskies (5-0) will play Crescenta Valley, a 56-34 winner over Franklin, in the final at 8 tonight.

“There’s no way you can stop a player of Dana’s caliber,” Palmdale Coach Garry Phelps said. “The only thing you can do is contain him.”

Until two minutes remained in the third quarter, Palmdale was ahead, 40-34, as center Jason Grimes had held Jones to 11 points.

But Jones scored seven consecutive points in the final two minutes of the third quarter, a warning to Palmdale as the Huskies pulled to within 42-41.

Both teams traded baskets in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter before Jones scored on two rebound layins during a 10-4 Husky streak, putting North Hollywood ahead, 53-46.

“We go as Dana goes,” North Hollywood assistant Eli Essa said. “But we’re not a one-man team.”

North Hollywood hadn’t previously trailed at halftime. The Huskies’ comeback coincided with Robert Hill shutting down John Johnson, Palmdale’s leading scorer. Johnson scored only seven of his 21 points in the second half.

The Huskies’ full-court press also harried Palmdale into several fourth-quarter turnovers.

In other tournament games:

Crescenta Valley 56, Franklin JV 34--The Falcons played Franklin’s junior varsity because the Franklin varsity played Marshall in a nonleague game earlier in the day.

Franklin, however, pulled to within 27-23 midway through the third quarter before Crescenta Valley (5-0) went on an 18-4 run to take a 45-27 lead.

La Canada 83, Burroughs 63--La Canada made nine of 13 three-point shots and Jeff Lord scored 23 points as La Canada won the consolation-bracket game.

The Spartans (3-2), ranked second in the 3-A Division, hit three three-point shots in the third quarter to turn a one-point halftime lead into a seven-point advantage entering the fourth quarter and outscored Burroughs, 26-12, in the last five minutes.

Jason Berns added 15 points for La Canada and Sean Whiting 14. Ray Velasquez led Burroughs (3-3) with a game-high 24 points.

Daniel Murphy 54, Burbank 45--Daniel Murphy took advantage of 22 Burbank turnovers as the Nobles won their first game in a consolation semifinal.