Grant Victory Tinged With Sadness, 54-50 : Basketball: Lancers learn of former teammate’s death after clinching title.

With a 54-50 victory over Monroe Wednesday, the Grant High boys’ basketball team won the championship of the Valley Pac-8 Conference but had its victory celebration halted by tragic news.

Chi Chen, a reserve guard on last year’s Lancer team, was killed in a car accident Tuesday.

Chen, 18, a freshman at Cal State Northridge, was driving east on Nordhoff Street about 12:30 p.m. when a moving van, which had been hit by another car, skidded in front of him, according to police reports.

Chen, who had stayed close to the team, was nicknamed “Yen” (as in money) by his teammates because of his three-point shooting accuracy.

“He was a great person who gave his heart for this program,” said Grant Coach Howard Levine, who didn’t tell his players of Chen’s death until after the game. “He’s been at virtually every one of our games this year supporting us. I know he was incredibly happy for us.”

Levine said he last talked to Chen about two weeks ago, when the former player showed up during practice and said he would be at Grant’s home game against rival North Hollywood on Feb. 1.

The Lancers upset the Huskies, 56-51, in double overtime in that game--beating North Hollywood for the first time in three years. That victory put Grant (16-6, 8-1) in position to win the title on Wednesday.

The Lancers were on the ropes, however, as a three-point shot by Quincy Brooks and a bank shot by Tim Johnson gave Monroe (15-6, 6-3) a 26-16 lead early in the third quarter.

But Grant took off on a 28-2 run that extended into fourth quarter, giving the Lancers a 45-28 lead.

The Lancers outscored Monroe, 21-6, in the third quarter, making 11 of 14 shots. Almost everyone got into the act, including Khalid Dawson, who made a layup that started the spurt, Donald Patterson (layup and tip-in), Taj Rollins (reverse layup) and Jason Hughes (bank shot).

Senior guard Ronald Patterson, keyed the run with 13 points, including three three-pointers. He had 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Ronald said brother Donald was equally important in the third quarter. Donald, a 6-foot-2 junior forward who averages eight rebounds a game, sat out most of the second quarter with three fouls.

“It’s just not the same without Donald in there,” Ronald said. “But when he came back, we started running and hitting big shots.”

Monroe outscored Grant, 23-12, in the fourth quarter with a full-court press that forced 10 turnovers. But the Vikings ran out of time.

A victory for Monroe would have put the Vikings in a first-place tie with Grant. But Grant neutralized Shaka Stiner, Monroe’s top scorer. Grant used a four-man zone and shadowed Stiner with the fifth man. Stiner, who averages 17.1 points, finished with 11. He had only two points until midway through the fourth quarter, when Monroe converted several turnovers into baskets.

“The bottom line when we play against a box-and-one (defense) is somebody else has to step up,” Monroe Coach Paul Graber said. “And nobody did. We choked.”

Before the Grant players could celebrate, Levine hustled his players into the locker room, where he broke the news about Chen. The players emerged visibly shaken, tears in their eyes.

Later, many of them huddled around Levine in his office. The gathering included Terry Smith-Harris, a former Grant student who plays for North Hollywood, and Reseda Coach Dave Enowitz, a former Grant assistant coach.

Players and coaches embraced and the somber contingent made plans to visit Chen’s family Wednesday night.