Burns Leads Reseda Past Lethargic Cleveland : Prep basketball: UCLA-bound senior scores 33 points and Regents scorch once-proud Cavaliers, 80-45.

The sequence was simple.

Blow it up.

Blow ‘em out.

“There are a lot of things about Bobby Knight that I don’t really like,” Reseda High basketball Coach Jeff Halpern said. “But his motivational tactics are great.”

Halpern read a newspaper story about the Indiana coach last week and was so taken by some of Knight’s comments that he clipped a few quotes. When his team reported for practice Tuesday, Halpern had a handout for each player.

“I cut out one part of the story and blew it up,” Halpern said. “Every player got one copy.”

The essence of the Knight wisdom: Preparation begets victory.

And a blowout it was Friday as Reseda hammered hapless Cleveland, 80-45, in a Northwest Valley Conference game at Cleveland.

With the victory, Reseda (7-4, 2-0 in league play) became the second team to defeat Cleveland in conference play since the current format was adopted in the City Section four years ago. Granada Hills has beaten the Cavaliers once in each of the past two seasons. But Cleveland (4-10, 1-1) no longer is a juggernaut.

Swingman Marquis Burns torched the Cavaliers in the first eight minutes, scoring 17 points on an assortment of dunks, three-point baskets and put-backs. He finished with 33 points and, had the game been competitive, would have had many more.

“We knew we could do it,” said Burns, who has signed to attend UCLA. “Especially if we put our heads to it.”

By halftime, the Cavaliers’ heads were bowed.

“I think they gave up,” Halpern said. “They looked frustrated and didn’t look ready.”

The mighty have fallen. In the junior varsity game, only five players suited up for Cleveland. One player left the game briefly because of an injury, forcing the Cavaliers to play with four.

Former Cleveland Coach Bob Braswell, now an assistant at Cal State Long Beach, dropped by in the second half to take a gander at Cleveland forward Shawn Bankhead. Braswell wouldn’t offer a comment on the record but he shook his head and rolled his eyes as Reseda piled up basket after basket.

Reseda put the game away in the third quarter. Bankhead, who was held to 15 points, half his season average, scored with 5 minutes 10 seconds left in the quarter to bring Cleveland to within 56-29.

Reseda then ripped off a 9-2 run and eventually led, 65-33, after three quarters. Cleveland, a team that once took pride in its transition attack, walked the ball up the floor for much of the second half and was equally lethargic on defense.

Reseda, on the other hand, shadowed Bankhead throughout.

“Coach came up with a great defense,” said Reseda point guard Trenton Cross, a sophomore who had 20 points. “I might not be able to reveal what it is.”

It was a diamond and one, and Bankhead--the focal point of the Cleveland attack--was neutralized. Reseda, in fact, cleared the bench in the third quarter and all but one player scored.