2nd Chance, 2nd Loss for Cleveland

Cleveland High lost its second chance in the second quarter Wednesday night.

Trailing by one with three minutes left in the first half in a 4-A City Section semifinal, Dorsey scored seven consecutive points, didn’t trail again and went on to a 70-59 victory before 1,000 at Crenshaw High.

Cleveland was eliminated from the playoffs by Carson last Friday, but the City section ruled Carson used an ineligible player in the game. The Cavaliers were reinstated to the playoffs Tuesday.

Cleveland (14-9) used a trapping press to stay with the Dons for the entire game, forcing seven turnovers in the third quarter, but not getting closer than three points.

Jermaine Hall scored 12 of his 18 points in the final quarter, helping pull Cleveland to within 52-49 with 4 1/2 minutes left, but Dorsey hit eight of 11 free throws to pull away.

“It’s tough because we didn’t have a lot of practice,” Cleveland forward Randolph Henry (10 points) said. “We just had to out there and play hard. They were just a little better shooting and rebounding.”

Shooting came in the form of guard Shewyn Morgan, who scored 17 points for Dorsey (18-8). Forward Jovan Colbert added eight points and 12 rebounds, seven in the second half.

“We didn’t know what to expect; we hadn’t played (Cleveland) since early in the season,” Colbert said. “We were preparing for Carson, we were used to them, but (the Cavaliers) were very different and better than in December.”

Dorsey beat Cleveland in December, but the teams hadn’t met since.

Both teams had to rely on help from the bench as physical play led to early foul trouble. Cleveland’s Jimmy Harris picked up his fourth foul a minute into the second half and didn’t play the rest of the game. Henry gave the Cavaliers a boost off the bench with 10 points, and Rasheem Smith played point guard for nearly the entire second half.

The Dons had help as well off the bench. Jason Hawzell scored eight of his 10 points in the first half and sophomore center Charles Johnson added seven points before fouling out midway though the fourth quarter.

“There was a lot of grabbing and holding going on,” Cleveland center Louis Fernandez (14 points) said. “Whenever I tried to get free, my jersey was grabbed.”

Dorsey will play Southern league rival Crenshaw for the championship Saturday.