Hill Leads Cleveland Win on 3 Fronts

Sometime over the summer, Eddie Hill underwent a startling transformation. Once a scorer--a moniker that generally connotes deficiencies in other areas--the Cleveland High guard has emerged from his one-dimensional cocoon.

The old label had, quite simply, bugged him.

“His image has been that of a pure shooter,” Cleveland Coach Marc Paez said. “Tonight’s game reflects how hard he’s worked to change all that.”

Indeed, those expecting the same shoot-it-when-I-get-it style from Hill must have taken a few double-takes during Friday night’s Northwest Valley Conference game against San Fernando.

Or make it triple - takes .

Hill, a Washington State-bound off-guard, scored a game-high 29 points, chipped in 13 assists and added 10 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers to an 84-68 win at Cleveland.

“It was easily his best all-around game,” Paez said as he flipped through the team stat sheets. “He did it all, in every aspect.”

Hill was so hot that San Fernando Coach Dick Crowell went to a box-and-one defense, but Hill shot holes in the plan. And not with his shooting, but with his passing.

“I made a gamble--and it was a mistake,” Crowell said. “We went to that defense on Hill and they just killed us on the other side.”

Hill is taking great pleasure in proving that he’s no one-sided coin.

“That’s one thing the coach has been telling me,” Hill said. “He said, ‘I know you can score, I want to see the total game.’ ”

Hill totaled stubborn San Fernando with a sparkling burst in the fourth quarter.

With Cleveland (13-4, 3-0 in league play) holding a 62-52 lead with 6:56 left, Hill found Kayheed Murray alone underneath with a perfect lob for an assist.

Murray was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but Cleveland controlled the rebound and Hill found himself with the ball near the free-throw line. Hill penetrated and whipped a perfect, no-look pass to Bobby McRae, who made a layup for a 14-point lead.

After a Cleveland steal on the ensuing inbounds play, Hill burned through the key and banked home a shot to cap a 6-0 run that gave the Cavaliers a commanding 68-52 margin.

That all happened in 28 seconds.

Hill and fellow guard Andre Chevalier (12 points) also kept the pressure on San Fernando (8-5, 1-2) defensively--the Tigers committed 24 turnovers. Each time San Fernando made a run, Cleveland answered with one of its own, generated as usual by its press.

“They change it up so much, it’s real hard to recognize,” Crowell said. “We’d get something going, then they’d start up their defense.”

Hill wasn’t the only study in contrast. Cavalier reserves Pat McCook and Murray each scored 11 points to bail out starters Trenton Cornelius and Brandon Martin, who were in foul trouble early.

Led by Marco Renteria with 20 points, four San Fernando starters scored in double figures. But the Tigers received just 13 points from their bench.

Though with Hill on a hot streak, a dozen reinforcements might not have been enough. His well-roundedness seems to have carried over to other areas too.

“It was a good team game,” he said. “I didn’t win it, I know that.”