Grant Finds Range in 2nd Half to Overcome Improving Sylmar : High school basketball: Lancers erase six-point halftime deficit for 59-48 victory and stay unbeaten in Valley Pac-8.

Grant High overcame a dismal first-half shooting performance to score a 59-48 come-from-behind victory over upstart Sylmar Wednesday in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game.

The host Lancers, who improved to 11-3 overall and 3-0 in league play, trailed from the opening basket until midway through the third quarter.

Sylmar (8-7, 3-1), much improved from years past, dominated inside, outrebounding the Lancers, 37-25, but the Spartans lost their grip on the lead in the third quarter and could not recover.

“(Sylmar is) a legitimate basketball team,” Grant Coach Howie Levine said. “They shoot very well, move the ball well. . . . They set a lot of decent picks in the first half.”

Sylmar led at the half, 20-14, and once was up by nine. But the Lancers, who shot 8% in the first quarter and only 25% at the break, found their groove after intermission.

Ron Patterson’s three-point basket made the score 29-27 with 3:21 left in the third period, giving Grant a lead it didn’t relinquish.

Patterson and Ali Karimian combined for 20 of Grant’s 25 points in the third quarter as the Lancers took a 39-30 lead into the final period.

Pinpoint shooting was the difference. Grant converted 10 of 16 shots (63%) in the third period and outscored Sylmar, 25-10.

Alvin Castro (10 rebounds) stepped up for Grant in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of his game-high 17 points to keep Sylmar at bay.

Sylmar pulled to within six on Hector Ibarra’s layup with 2:30 remaining, and to within 51-47 on Joe Guerra’s three-point basket with less than a minute left, but Grant outscored the Spartans 8-2 until the end.

Guerra finished with with 15 points--all on three-point shots--but Grant held Sylmar’s leading scorers, Michael Farmer (nine points) and Lamarr Thompson (seven) in check.

Thompson however, had a game-high 16 rebounds.

Although Sylmar Coach Jose Fernandez was pleased with the Spartans’ inside play, he said he was upset that the officials continue to think of Sylmar as a loser.

“The referees took a lot of momentum away in the second half,” Fernandez said. “Until you beat a team like Grant, you’re not going to get the calls.”

Sylmar had not won more than four games in each of the last four years. Fernandez, now in his second season, is determined to change that legacy.

“As long as you are Sylmar High School, the calls are gonna go against you,” Fernandez said. “These guys aren’t losers--you saw that--but the referees consider us losers.”