Coach’s Early Read of Game Plan Leads to North Hollywood Win

North Hollywood High Coach Steve Miller was suspicious of Grant Coach Howie Levine’s game plan long before their teams squared off in Friday’s Valley Pac-8 Conference basketball game.

So Miller followed his hunch, told the Huskies what to expect, then sat back and watched North Hollywood coast to a 63-44 victory over the host Lancers.

Miller learned more from a recent newspaper article than he did from studying videotapes of Grant.

“Coach Levine’s comment was, ‘If you stop Damon Ollie, you stop North Hollywood,’ ” Miller said. “So, I knew he’d probably switch to a 2-3, packed-in zone. . . . and he did.”

While the Lancers were converging on the 6-foot-5, 205-pound Ollie, senior guard Robert Hill was carrying the Huskies (16-1, 4-0 in league play) to victory. Hill scored 15 of North Hollywood’s first 20 points in the first quarter and finished with a season-high 27.

“Well, that shows you how many guns they’ve got,” Levine said. “I mean, if it’s not (Damon), than it’s somebody else.”

Ollie, the half-brother of Pepperdine’s Dana Jones, scored 19 points against Grant in a North Hollywood tournament game last month, which prompted Levine’s earlier telltale comment.

This time around, Grant’s Jason Richter, Mark Small and Wayne Carlisle shut down Ollie, who was held to just two points after three quarters.

“We were doubling down on Damon and we were sagging off--definitely away from Robert,” Levine said. “He had some open shots and he canned them.”

Hill hit seven of 11 field-goal attempts in the first half and three of four in the second. “I just took advantage of the situation because they gave me the shot,” Hill said.

The Lancers (8-6, 3-2) outrebounded North Hollywood, 19-10, in the first half and trailed at the intermission, 29-21. But, the Huskies pulled away and took a 45-29 lead on Hill’s third three-point basket late in the third quarter.