Cleveland Takes Its Time but Wins : Basketball: Reeling from coach’s exit, tardy Cavaliers rebound to beat Inglewood.

Cleveland High assistant coach Bort Escoto could have been forgiven if he felt lost Saturday. His team certainly appeared to be.

Ten minutes after the scheduled 1 p.m. tip-off time for Cleveland’s first-round contest against Inglewood in the L.A. Games, only four Cavaliers were present at El Camino College’s south gymnasium.

Already frustrated and confused by first-year Coach Marc Paez’s sudden departure two weeks ago, the eighth-seeded Cavaliers were within five minutes of forfeiting. Escoto, temporarily put in charge when Paez resigned, kept a watchful eye on the scoreboard clock.

“Honestly, I feel terrible,” Escoto said. “They won’t allow us to play four on five. They’re going to make us forfeit.”

As Escoto shook his head, a group of Cavaliers arrived. Apparently they had been hindered by traffic on the San Diego Freeway.

Once the Cavaliers had donned their black and red jerseys, they went about their business in much the same way they have produced one of the area’s most successful programs.

They used a quick, aggressive defense to force 20 turnovers and played well enough on offense to hand Inglewood a 58-51 defeat. Cleveland will meet Cypress, a 49-41 winner over Duarte, today at 11 a.m. If Cleveland wins, it will play again at 3 p.m.

The Cavaliers did not play as well as Escoto would have liked.

Lackadaisical rebounding allowed Inglewood 17 second chances that kept the Sentinels within striking distance, and Cleveland added 15 turnovers. Escoto said he did not feel comfortable until the Cavaliers had put together a 12-2 spurt for a 56-48 lead with 16 seconds to play.

But, in light of the team’s woes, Escoto finds it difficult to expect much more.

“I think most people think we’re down and out. They think that, mentally, we might not be as stable as we have been,” Escoto said. “We might not be, but we have to prove that we’re still Cleveland High. We’re playing for school pride and the team’s sake.”

That might be more difficult than it has been in the past. Only four varsity players return and the Cavaliers lack their traditional speed, size and talent.

But there was talent enough to baffle Inglewood. Forward Brandon Martin scored a game-high 28 points and guard Kenny Collins played flawlessly down the stretch.

After Martin’s three-point play gave Cleveland a 48-46 lead, Collins hit a jump shot, fed Martin for a layup and hit both ends of a one-and-one with 0:23 left to extend Cleveland’s lead to 56-48.

“We were in shock when Coach Paez quit,” said forward Kahyeed Murray. “We were just getting comfortable with him and ‘Boom!’ We have to do this all over again.”

Murray echoed his teammates, who say the situation has been tempered by a good relationship with Escoto. A former Cavalier who has been an assistant at Cleveland for five seasons, Escoto has worked with many of the Cavaliers since they were freshmen.

Escoto, however, is hesitant to initiate his coaching philosophy.

“I can’t really be myself because somebody new could come in and change the whole thing,” Escoto said. “In fact, (a new head coach) could even get rid of me as an assistant, so I’m holding back a little.”