Grant Romps While Forscutt Gains Reprieve

Grant High’s Rick Forscutt went into Wednesday’s Valley Pac-8 Conference matchup against Birmingham thinking he was playing his last basketball game in a Lancer uniform.

But minutes after helping Grant score a 50-29 victory over the Braves, Forscutt received a stay from his parents amounting to two more games as a Lancer.

Forscutt, a 6-foot-8 senior center, was scheduled to move to Utah with his parents on Friday, but now escrow on their home is not expected to close before Jan. 14. Another week in Van Nuys means Forscutt will be around to help the Lancers in contests against Sylmar and Monroe.

“That’s better than nothing,” Grant Coach Howie Levine said.

Levine has been counting the days until Forscutt’s departure, and the team’s leading scorer and rebounder will be sorely missed.

As usual, Forscutt was the force against Birmingham (3-6, 0-2).

Grant (10-3, 2-0) opened the game with a 9-2 run and Forscutt accounted for eight of the Lancers’ 11 first-quarter points on his way to scoring 16.

Grant, which didn’t trail after the opening basket, owned a 21-15 lead at halftime.

The Lancers, shooting 43% from the field, benefited from a tenacious defense and Birmingham’s atrocious marksmanship (12 of 49, 24%). The Braves didn’t reach double-figure scoring in any quarter.

“We expected them to come out a lot tougher and give us a game, but we were able to hold them off with our defense,” said Forscutt, who pulled down eight of his 10 rebounds in the second half.

An 11-2 Grant run to start the third quarter gave the Lancers a 32-17 lead and the rest seemed academic.