THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Granada Hills’ Johnson Keen to Wear Green

Bob Johnson, the Granada Hills High boys’ basketball coach and a counselor at the school, sports a distinguished head of gray hair. He rarely loses his cool with players. His sideline deportment would earn an A grade.

What, then, would prompt this normally conservative, levelheaded 55-year-old to deck himself in school colors before each game? Consider the garb: Bright green socks. Lime green belt. Green pinstripes on his button-down shirt. Any more green and the guy would look like a 6-foot leprechaun or Kermit the Frog.

“School spirit, I guess,” he said.

Hmmm. But it might run deeper than that. Some observers suspect that Johnson has worn the same outfit to every game recently. After all, before their loss to Cleveland last week, the Highlanders had won eight games in a row. And it’s awfully tough to hide the coffee stain on the shirt . . .

“It probably seems like I wear it every game, but it’s not a superstition thing,” Johnson said, grinning. “I only wear it for the tough ones.”

That does not eliminate many, Bob. Last Friday, Granada Hills lost to Cleveland. On Wednesday, the Highlanders rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Taft. The week before, Granada Hills trailed by as many as 14 points in a win over Kennedy.

Now that the streak is over, it will be clear whether it’s superstition tonight when Granada Hills opens the City Section 4-A Division playoffs at home against Washington.

Raider of the last arc: Brandon Martin is Cleveland’s stealth bomber. While fans are more familiar with players such as Eddie Hill or Bobby McRae, Martin, only a sophomore, has more than held his own as a starting forward.

Martin, averaging 12.8 points a game, is second on the team in scoring only to Washington State-bound Hill (15.2). Yet if Martin continues to play as he has recently--he made a critical three-point basket in the closing moments of a 60-59 win over Taft on Feb. 1 and scored a team-high 20 points against Granada Hills last Friday--he will be a secret no longer.

“Who was that guy on the Raiders--it was Lester Hayes or somebody--that they called the ‘Quiet Assassin?’ ” Cleveland Coach Marc Paez said, confusing Hayes with former Oakland defensive back Jack Tatum. “Anyway, Martin’s our Quiet Assassin, an efficient player. There’s not much flash. He doesn’t waste any moves.”

Hayes, of course, was nicknamed The Judge. The verdict on Martin?

“He’s a very hard worker,” Hill said. “He’s been asked to be a consistent player in our starting lineup, to play well each night. That’s a lot to ask from a sophomore, and he’s come through.”

Trivia time: Kennedy guard Garret Anderson (23.3 points a game), Granada Hills guard Jermoine Brantley (20.1) and San Fernando forward Russell Baldwin (17.4) lead their respective teams in scoring. Each is the best player on his playoff-bound team and each is a senior. What else do these North Valley League standouts have in common? (Answer below).

Teed off: Last month Taft Coach Jim Woodard had to endure a 77-45 whipping administered to his team by Cleveland. That was bad enough. But at halftime, with his team in arrears to the tune of 48-11, his dignity really took a beating.

“At halftime, the guy who does the announcing and keeps their book came up to me and asked if I wanted to play in their golf tournament,” Woodard said, referring to the recent Bret Saberhagen fund-raiser at Knollwood Golf Course. “I asked him what it was for. He said it was a benefit for Cleveland athletics.

“We’re down, 48-11, and they ask me to play in a Cleveland fund-raiser? I said, ‘Uh, I think I’ll pass.’ ”

As good as new: Greg Tan of San Fernando High suffered a fractured leg at the beginning of the wrestling season in December in the Rosemead Invitational, but the senior has returned and has won four consecutive matches in Valley League competition in the 154-pound division.

Tan will compete in the league finals Saturday at El Camino Real.

Trivia answer: Each is left-handed.

Kirby Lee and staff writer Steve Elling contributed to this notebook.