HART TOURNAMENT : Paez Pours Out Justification for High Scores

Cleveland High basketball team routs opponent. Opponent’s coach accuses Cleveland coach of pouring it on. Cleveland coach responds in “Who, me?” fashion.

New year, new coach, but same old story for Cleveland. The longtime Valley powerhouse pounded Beverly Hills, 102-73, Thursday in a quarterfinal-round game of the Hart tournament.

Beverly Hills Coach Jack Dyck, thinking aloud through much of the debacle, took exception to the Cavaliers’ application of a full-court press while the game was under lock and key late in the fourth quarter.

“That’s kind of a Cleveland tradition from what I understand,” Dyck said. “Keep stepping on them when they’re down.”

Marc Paez, the new coach, indicated that this is not the same old Cleveland. Paez, who replaced Bob Braswell, the target of repeated pointed fingers in his four-year reign, insisted that he is not one to tread on anyone’s toes--or team, for that matter.

“I’m sorry he felt that we poured it on,” Paez said. “I’m very conscious of that and I don’t want to be thought of as one who runs up scores. I think we called it off at the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter. But you can only take the kids out of the press. You can’t take the aggressiveness out of the kids. They’ve earned their right to play hard.”

Paez pointed to the employment of reserves Reggie Simmons (six points), Sean Guenther (four) and David Garrett (two), all of whom accounted for their scoring totals in the fourth quarter while starters Brandon Martin (game-high 23 points), Bobby McRae (16), Eddie Hill (12), Andre Chevalier (10), and sixth man Patrick McCook (17) became spectators.

Cleveland (8-4) got rolling early, making 21 of 37 shots from the field to take a 52-36 halftime lead. McCook scored 10 points in the second quarter, and Martin scored eight in the second and nine in the third to complete his scoring.

In other tournament games:

Antelope Valley 103, St. Francis 93--The Antelopes (9-2) raced to their eighth consecutive win while receiving a career-high 36-point performance from senior Chris Walters.

Hart 95, Saugus 67--Micah Ohlman scored a game-high 32 points to lead Hart into a semifinal game against Rio Mesa.

Rio Mesa 69, East Bakersfield 55--Eric Thomas scored a game-high 29 points as the Spartans advanced to the championship semifinal.

Palmdale 63, Hueneme 44--Palmdale stretched a 30-24 halftime lead by outscoring Hueneme, 18-4, in the third quarter in a consolation quarterfinal. Junior center Jason Grimes scored a game-high 16 points to pace Palmdale (6-6).

Calabasas 58, St. Genevieve 28--Guards John Friedlander (15 points) and Brian Firring (14) teamed to lead the Coyotes in a consolation quarterfinal.

Canyon 79, Steveston, British Columbia, Canada 44--Tom Boobar scored a team-high 16 points to lead Canyon in a consolation quarterfinal game.

Crescenta Valley 53, Glendale 47--Jon Allen and Bruce Jacobson each scored 10 points as Crescenta Valley advanced to the consolation semifinals.