NORTH HOLLYWOOD TOURNAMENT : Allen, Granada Hills Thwart Stubborn Grant, 63-56

Granada Hills High benefited from Grant’s cold shooting and untimely turnovers in the fourth quarter Friday night to score a 63-56 victory over the Lancers in a semifinal game of the North Hollywood tournament.

The Highlanders (9-1) owned a 51-50 lead after three quarters and held Grant to just six points in the final period to advance to today’s 7 p.m. championship game against El Camino Real. The Conquistadores defeated North Hollywood, 64-44, in the other semifinal.

It looked as if Grant would get a break when Granada Hills’ Jerry Allen, who finished with a game-high 23 points, picked up his fourth foul with one minute, 18 seconds left in the third quarter. Allen already had his 23 points, but Coach Bob Johnson wanted Allen on the floor for the final period.

“Coach Johnson told me, ‘You gotta play soft, but we need you on offense,’ ” Allen said. “I kept my hands in my pocket. I had to. I wanted to play.”

Fearful of committing a fifth foul, Allen never attempted a shot in the fourth quarter. Instead, he dished out assists to Gene Barshtak and Adrian Sellers, and controlled the tempo on offense.

Grant’s Brunell Mori, who finished with 16 rebounds and a team-high 16 points, tied the score, 54-54, with 5:25 to play.

But the Lancers were scoreless for five minutes, allowing Granada Hills to post a 9-0 run for a 63-54 lead. Ryan Cravens’ three-point play and Sellers’ 10-foot jump shot keyed the Highlanders’ run.

Barshtak’s slam with 29 seconds left punctuated the victory. George Vicuna stole the ball from David Knight at midcourt and passed to Barshtak, who slammed it through with both hands.

Grant (6-2) turned the ball over three times down the stretch and failed to score off six offensive rebounds in the final period.

Granada Hills led, 16-13, after the first quarter but fell behind, 38-31, late in the second period after Grant put together a 7-0 run behind Sean McMahon’s four points and Eric Brown’s fourth three-point basket of the quarter.

Brown was four of four from three-point range in the second quarter and finished with 12 points.

The Highlanders outscored Grant, 12-2, in the opening minutes of the third period for a 44-40 lead and led by one with eight minutes left.

McMahon finished with 14 points for the Lancers, and Sellers scored 16 for Granada Hills.

Grant plays North Hollywood for third place today at 5:30 p.m.

In other games:

El Camino Real 64, North Hollywood 44--The Conquistadores’ inside game proved too tough for the Huskies, who played without Eric Jackson, who sustained a broken left wrist Thursday against Chatsworth.

Jackson, the Huskies’ best inside player and rebounder, could only watch as El Camino Real took apart the Huskies (6-3) on both sides of the court. Jackson will wear a cast for the next three weeks.

Markee Brown scored 14 points for El Camino Real (6-1), and teammates Adam Kodish and Sam Sarpong each scored 11.

North Hollywood’s only double-figure scorer was Robert Hill, who scored 12 points in the first half but was held to just six in the second to finish with a game-high 18 points.

Reseda 66, Poly 47--Marquis Burns scored 16 points and James Pigford added 13 to lead the Regents (3-4) past Poly (2-6) in a semifinal consolation game.

The Regents led, 31-17, at halftime and limited Poly to nine or fewer points in each of the first three quarters.

Steve McCann’s 13 points and Juan DeLuna’s 10 paced the Parrots.

Bell-Jeff 69, Chatsworth 65--Ignacio Castro scored 27 points as Bell-Jeff (4-4) advanced to the consolation championship against Reseda today at 4 p.m.

Trailing by 10 points at the end of three quarters, Bell-Jeff outscored Chatsworth, 25-11, in the fourth quarter for the victory. The Guards converted all 12 of their free throws in the period. Castro made seven free throws and Brian Lee, who finished with 18 points, was five of five. Chatsworth is 4-3.