Scrappy Reseda Finally Gives In to Cleveland

It took eight quarters of intense basketball against the best the Northwest Valley Conference had to offer, but Jeff Halpern finally overheated like a car stuck in rush-hour traffic.

Halpern’s undermanned Reseda High Regents, who gave No. 1-ranked Granada Hills a scare Wednesday, took on another conference heavyweight Friday night and once more duked it out to the finish.

This time the opponent was Cleveland, and like Granada Hills before them, the Cavaliers simply had too much talent for Reseda, which dropped a 98-85 decision at Reseda.

Afterward, Halpern was irate. He was upset at the officiating. He was upset at having had to move up a level to the City Section 4-A Division this season. He was just plain frustrated.

“I’m a little irrational right now. We are far from a talented team, and we don’t have a magnet program like Cleveland, but we have guts and heart and we aren’t going to let anybody run us off the court,” Halpern said. “I’m proud as . . . of this team. We have a hell of a 3-A team. We will not give in to anybody. Granada and Cleveland back to back, and we nearly beat both of them.”

Reseda (6-7 overall, 1-2 in the conference), which forced Granada Hills into a fourth-period comeback, appeared to be on the short end of a rout against Cleveland (12-5, 3-0).

Despite converting 10 of 13 field-goal attempts in the second period, Reseda was outscored, 38-23, in the quarter and trailed Cleveland, 58-39, at halftime.

The Cavaliers built their advantage to as many as 24 points in the third period before the Regents made a run.

Led by Marquis Burns (10 of 14 field-goal attempts, 30 points, eight rebounds) and James Pigford (24 points, 10 rebounds), Reseda closed the gap to 82-65 after three quarters and narrowed the difference to 90-81 midway through the fourth quarter, forcing Cleveland to call a timeout with 4:02 to play.

When play resumed, the Cavaliers went to a four-corners delay offense, forcing Reseda out of its zone defense and pulling away again in the final minutes.

Cleveland’s delay tactics surprised Halpern.

“It showed me they were a little worried about us coming back,” he said. “Cleveland doesn’t slow it down for anybody.”

Four players scored in double figures for Cleveland, led by Brandon Martin with 28 points. Kayheed Murray added 19, Kenny Collins 18 and Carlos Vasquez 15.