Sylmar Shrugs Off Flaws to Win Easily

After watching his team play its sloppiest game of the season, Sylmar High Coach Bort Escoto had choice words for his players.

But it’s hard to believe the players took his warnings to heart. They’ll need a stronger scare than this to shake their doldrums.

After all, when a team turns the ball over 22 times and still whips its opponent by 22 points, what’s the big deal?

The Spartans looked disinterested and played without emotion throughout most of an easy 79-57 victory over North Hollywood in an East Valley League game at Sylmar.

“We come out here thinking we can run over people and we underestimate the teams,” said Dallas Townsend, a 6-feet-4 senior forward who scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.

Sylmar (17-5), ranked No. 3 in the region by The Times, improved to 4-1 in league play, maintaining a tie for first place with Grant, a 72-65 winner over Canoga Park on Wednesday.

Traveling, errant passes, lane violations, stepping out of bounds, Sylmar did it all against North Hollywood, but the Huskies could do little with the turnovers.

To be sure, the Huskies had troubles of their own, namely committing 26 turnovers.

North Hollywood led, 9-4, early in the first period, but Sylmar came charging back and claimed a 16-15 lead on a putback by Joey Youman in the final seconds of the quarter.

The second quarter proved to be North Hollywood’s undoing as the Huskies made one of nine shots, scored only four points and committed nine turnovers.

On the strength of Jeremiah Turner’s eight points in the quarter, the Spartans led, 33-19, at halftime. Turner finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.

Sylmar had little trouble penetrating North Hollywood’s defense. Thirteen of the Spartans’ 15 field goals in the first half were from five feet or closer.

Turner, a 6-6 senior forward, was the most productive, hitting five of eight shots underneath.

North Hollywood (11-8, 3-2) turned the ball over on five of its first six possessions in the third quarter and Sylmar extended the lead to 38-19.

Then Sylmar’s offense went south, committing eight turnovers in the third period.

North Hollywood capped a 12-3 run on an 18-foot jumper by Eurvei Alvarado to close to within 41-31 with three minutes left in the period. Dominic Johnson made back-to-back three-point shots during the run and finished with 22 points.

Escoto called for a timeout and told his players he wanted to see seven passes before a shot was taken by his team.

“We weren’t running the press break right,” Townsend said.

Escoto’s edict was followed, Sylmar regained its composure and took a 51-36 lead into the final period.

Sylmar claimed its largest lead, 70-42, on a short jumper by Townsend with less than three minutes remaining. The Spartans were 18 of 27 (67%) from the field in the second half.

Alvarado finished with 10 points for North Hollywood.