Palmdale Can’t Quite Pull Off a Hart-Stopper : High school basketball: Ballew’s three-pointer with two seconds left gives Indians a 55-52 victory.

Brian Ballew said he is unaccustomed to playing the hero, but the Hart High forward sure looked like a veteran in the role Wednesday night.

The 6-foot-2 senior scored seven of his 17 points in the final two minutes, including a three-pointer with two seconds to play that gave the Indians a 55-52 victory over Palmdale in the semifinals of the 22nd Hart Holiday Classic.

The defeat snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Falcons (9-2).

“I’ve never made a last-second shot like that,” said Ballew, who averages only 6.5 points. “When I released the ball, it felt good. All my shots felt good all game long.”

Defending tournament-champion Hart (13-1) plays Manual Arts (11-2), a 67-63 winner over Canyon in the other semifinal, for the title tonight at 7:30.

Ballew made two free throws with 1 minute 24 seconds left to put Hart ahead, 50-49. He connected on two more free throws with 44 seconds to play.

Palmdale’s Rocky Sandoval hit a three-pointer, his only field goal of the game, with 25 seconds remaining to tie the game, 52-52.

Cody Patterson added 15 points and seven rebounds for Hart. Al Lairson led Palmdale with 17 points.

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In other tournament games:

Manual Arts 67, Canyon 63--The Toilers outmuscled the Cowboys en route in the other semifinals.

David Rickenbacker (11 points, 10 rebounds) and John Thompson (19 points) provided the Toilers with enough big plays to offset the outside shooting of Canyon guards James Manning (23 points) and Greg Minor (20). Charles Woodard added 12 points for Canyon (10-4).

“We were concerned about their post game,” said Cowboy Coach Greg Hayes. “They did exactly what we thought they would do, and they are a very good team, but I thought our shot selection hurt us down the stretch.”

San Fernando 69, Littlerock 48--Jerome Elliott scored 23 points and Barry McWright added 21 for the Tigers.

Mike Lonien had 14 points for the Lobos.

Glendale 65, Notre Dame 55--The forward combination of Ramon Jose and Henrik Bandari helped the Dynamiters earn a berth in the consolation final against San Fernando.

Jose scored 18 points and Bandari added 17 for Glendale.

Tommy Zapata scored 18 points and Rich Igou added 17 for the Knights.

Simi Valley 77, West Bakersfield 45--Nathan Simmons scored 22 points as the Pioneers (9-3) cruised to victory.

Guards Jeremy Roberts and Sam Rodriguez scored 12 points apiece for Simi Valley, which meets Culver City for fifth place.

Robert Steward led West Bakersfield (4-7) with seven points.

Royal 75, Garfield 47--Guard Scott Hambly scored 19 points in the Highlanders’ blowout victory over the Bulldogs.

Royal, which plays Arroyo Grande for 11th place, also received strong play from forward Eric Carlsen (14 points) and guard David Pulsipher (10 points).

Forward Jesus Fernandez scored 24 points for the Bulldogs.

Arroyo Grande 65, Antelope Valley 58--Swingman William Antonio scored a game-high 21 points and guard Jeff Lucas added 15 to help propel the Eagles past the Antelopes.

Forward Bobby Maybee added 12 points for Arroyo Grande, which meets Royal for 11th place.

Forward Jason Storm paced Antelope Valley with 15 points and Derrick Barker contributed 14.