THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Brantley’s Consistency on the Court Brings Raves From One Quarter

It has not been a banner year for basketball in the Valley. No player has established himself as a runaway favorite for The Times’ Valley Player of the Year Award, which went to Oakwood High’s Mitchell Butler (now a freshman at UCLA) the past two seasons.

Canoga Park Coach Jeff Davis says a player has emerged, and that Jermoine Brantley of Granada Hills High gets his vote.

“I think that this year, Brantley’s been the best,” Davis said. “Other players have been so inconsistent. He’s been there every game, running the show. He’s hurt every team that’s played them.”

Brantley, a senior point guard, has been averaging 20.8 points and 8.8 assists.

Calm after the storm: A few seconds later, after the shot, it was very quiet. At the time, however, the decibel level was too high for anyone to hear the frantic wailing of the coach.

Amid the din, sophomore Brandon Martin of Cleveland nailed a three-point shot with 1 minute 17 seconds left in Friday’s North Valley League game at Taft, bringing the Cavaliers to within a point.

The significance? Cleveland Coach Marc Paez was screaming his lungs out trying to get Martin’s attention.

“We were down by four and we had two timeouts left,” Paez said. “I thought we needed to set something up, but we were in transition (on the floor) and nobody heard me.

“It was one of those situations where it was, ‘Don’t shoot, don’t shoot! Great shot!’ ”

Cleveland went on to win, 60-59, to remain in a tie with Granada Hills for first place in league play. This was a big bucket for the 15-year-old Martin--as well as others.

“It was a big shot for the sophomore,” Paez said. “It was a big shot for the 30-year-old: Me.”

Said Taft Coach Jim Woodard: “It was the play of the game, no doubt about it.”

Paez said it was as though Cleveland had stolen one.

“Every season you win a couple of games that you probably shouldn’t have,” Paez said. “The Taft game may have been one of them.”

Spartan woes: In December, first-year Sylmar Coach Larry Link thought that his team could sneak into the playoffs by finishing second in the East Valley League race. Although the Spartans hovered just a game behind second-place Birmingham most of the season, a Sylmar loss to lowly Poly two weeks ago dealt the team’s playoff hopes a severe blow.

And if that was not enough, the team is now down to seven players after senior Jason Miles quit for unspecified reasons last week. Miles, the team’s second-leading scorer, had been averaging 11.3 points.

Link, disgruntled by what he perceives as a lackadaisical attitude from his seniors, says that brighter days may lie ahead.

“Hopefully, our underclassmen will come through,” he said. “My JV team works so hard. I’m looking forward to having these kids on varsity (next year).”

Crime and punishment: Coach Fred Cook, suffering through a long first season as Burbank basketball coach, did not second-guess his decision to levy a one-game suspension against junior John Warner, who was ejected for his involvement in a fight in a game against Schurr.

One could hardly blame Cook, however, if he had.

While Warner missed Burbank’s game against Hart two days later, the Indians’ Micah Ohlman scored a school-record 42 points in an 88-49 laugher. In the teams’ first meeting this season, Warner held Ohlman to 10 points.

“We had no one to guard him,” said Cook, whose team is 3-17. “But he had to sit out because of the fight.”

Mat work: Moorpark’s Paul Gutierrez wasted no time during a 132-pound match against Calabasas last week, pinning his opponent in a mere nine seconds. Gutierrez, who finished fifth in the state as a junior last year, has overcome a shoulder injury and is 10-1 for Moorpark (16-5).

Beginner’s luck: A substitute goalkeeper usually hopes, or rather, prays that the defense will not allow opposing strikers a shot on goal.

But Brad Wheeler, St. Francis High’s No. 2 goalie behind sophomore Justin Johnson, notched four saves in a 7-0 Del Rey League win over Alemany on Friday.

“Brad was real solid,” Coach Glen Appels said. “He played a lot for me last year on JVs.”

The match marked the senior’s first start this season for St. Francis (15-1-1, 7-0), ranked second behind Diamond Bar in the Southern Section 3-A Division.

Heightened awareness: Who says that all good basketball players are tall? Certainly not Van Nuys guard Huong Thai.

The compact cornerstone of the girls’ basketball team stands 4-11, but as her coach, Tony Magnete, said, “it doesn’t matter at all.”

The junior, who moved to the United States from Vietnam when she was 10, is averaging 10 assists.

“She’s an exciting player,” Magnete said. “I tell my players that when she gets the ball they have to be alert, because they are going to get the ball. She makes things happen.”

Thai makes clear her objective:

“I’m quicker because I’m closer to the ground. I’d rather pass the ball to someone and make the play.”

Mike Glaze and staff writers Steve Elling, Vince Kowalick, Brian Murphy, Jeff Riley, and Naomi Tward contributed to this notebook.