Grant Carries On to Beat Sylmar After Arenas Goes Off

Gilbert Arenas single-handedly brought Grant High to the brink of a Valley Pac-8 Conference victory over Sylmar on Friday night, but it was up to his teammates to finish an 81-75 victory at Grant.

Arenas, the Lancers’ junior point guard, collected 39 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals, but another critical number he picked up was five.

Arenas was called for his fifth foul with 3:20 left, with Grant holding a 74-66 lead and facing hot-shooting Brandon Jacobs of Sylmar.

The Lancers wavered a bit, letting the Spartans come within a point when Jacobs hit a three-pointer with 1:55 left.

Grant (11-6, 2-0 in conference play) was able to hold on when Sylmar missed its next five shots.

“We’ve been [without Arenas] for a couple of stretches this year,” Grant Coach Howard Levine said. “Those experiences helped us a lot. If we make more free throws, they don’t get as close.”

Sylmar trailed, 58-44, after three quarters but Jacobs kept Sylmar from being blown out by taking over.

He scored 21 points in the final quarter and finished with 31. Jacobs took 17 shots in the quarter, including eight three-pointer, making three.

“I tried to get us back in it,” Jacobs said. “We should have played harder earlier.”

Sylmar (8-8, 1-1) did play well early, leading for most of the first half behind a balanced attack. Meanwhile, backup center Hans Hoehn was the only Grant player besides Arenas to score until midway through the second quarter.

Then Arenas took over.

He had four fastbreak baskets, including two dunks, and two assists in a 14-0 run that gave Grant a 37-30 lead.

Arenas scored 27 of the Lancers’ first 35 points before picking up his third foul with two minutes left in the half.

The Lancers struggled early in the first stretch without Arenas, turning the ball over three consecutive times.

“We wouldn’t have gotten in any kind of position to win without Gilbert,” senior forward Adir Levy said.

The Spartans tried guarding Arenas straight-up with four different players in the first half, then began double-teaming in the third quarter.

That freed up Levy, who scored all 16 of his points in the second half.

The Spartans were further foiled by a closely called game. Sylmar was called for 25 fouls and Grant 22. The Sylmar bench was whistled for two technical fouls in the third quarter, helping the Lancers to a double-digit lead.

“There was a stretch where we missed some shots but after that, every time we had an opportunity it was taken away,” Sylmar Coach Bort Escoto said.

Dallas Townsend had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and George Wrighster added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Sylmar.