Sylmar Has Polished Look in Defeating Birmingham

After a long layoff, it should have taken a while for Sylmar High and Birmingham to shake off the rust.

But after an 18-day break because of the earthquake, the Spartans and Braves looked as if they hadn’t missed a beat, playing a fundamentally sound game Wednesday night.

Sylmar used its height advantage, more specifically 6-foot-6 inch forward Lamar Thompson, to claim a 62-57 Valley Pac-8 Conference win and strengthen its hold on first place in the Mid-Valley League.

The game was originally set for Sylmar but was switched to Birmingham because Sylmar’s gym is still being used as a shelter for earthquake victims.

Thompson scored 24 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked four shots. He scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to build a 50-43 lead with six minutes remaining in the final period.

Guard Michael Farmer provided the insurance for Sylmar by scoring the Spartans’ last seven points.

But the Braves (5-8, 2-4 in league play) kept battling, preventing Sylmar (10-7, 5-1) from pulling away. Birmingham came as close as 58-56 with less than a minute remaining, and still had a chance to tie in the waning seconds but Scott DeWinter’s three-point attempt bounced off the rim with 20 seconds left.

Farmer finished with 19 points, 14 in the second half.

Sylmar shot 57.5% (23 of 40) from the field, a statistic all the more remarkable because the Spartans had barely practiced during the layoff.

“I thought it would take us another game before we played this well,” Thompson said. “We felt we had to come out hard and take good shots. They just fell in.”

Although Birmingham didn’t shoot as well from the field (21 of 56), the Braves took exceptional care of the ball. Birmingham had only six turnovers, including only one in the second half.

A balanced offensive attack led by center Tony Silberfeld (13 points) and forward Rudolfo Quilang (13 points) kept Birmingham in the game.

“Both teams played well for their first game,” Silberfeld said. “We’ve had to deal with big people all year and we know we can’t stop everybody.”