Monroe Can’t Stop Onslaught

With an 84-62 blowout of first-place Monroe High in a Valley Pac-8 Conference boys’ basketball game Wednesday afternoon, North Hollywood might have exorcised a demon.

North Hollywood (11-7, 4-1 in conference play) hit the floor snarling and overwhelmed Monroe (13-4, 4-1), ranked No. 5 in the Valley by The Times.

“The team was together in a lot of ways,” said North Hollywood forward Lonzo Cotton, who had 17 points. “Everybody helped each other out. This was a very important game.”

With a lightning start, the Huskies had a 16-point lead before the end of the first quarter. But Monroe switched to a full-court press and outscored North Hollywood, 27-13, during the final 8 minutes 50 seconds of the first half to cut the lead to 39-37 at halftime.

Monroe’s Bobby Reed, who scored 16 points, made a 15-foot jump shot to tie the score, 39-39, early in the third quarter.

The Huskies then took another 16-point lead with a 21-5 run. Monroe cut the margin to 60-52 with four baskets, three coming after stealing consecutive inbounds passes. But North Hollywood didn’t have trouble with the press again, outscoring the Vikings, 24-10, in the fourth quarter.

Monroe had no rebounds in the fourth quarter while North Hollywood feasted on the boards. Center Shannon Johnson had 14 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots. Guard Arthur Lee had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Terry Smith-Harris had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Cotton added 12 rebounds.

North Hollywood, the defending Pac-8 champion, stumbled to a 7-6 start this season. After winning three in a row, the Huskies tripped Monday in a two-point loss to Poly.

A team loaded with talent, the Huskies were to be a fast-breaking, above-the-rim leaping team that was jogging in place.

But they appeared to have their act together after a number of players missed Tuesday’s practice because of illness, and Mike Delano, a former starting forward, was dismissed from the team.