Cleveland Puts Grant Into Pressure Cooker

For a little more than one half, the Grant High boys’ basketball team solved the usually frenetic Cleveland pressure defense.

Then the Lancers snapped.

The Cavaliers went on a 17-0 run and rolled to a 55-43 victory Friday night in the first round of the City Championship playoffs at Cleveland High.

Cleveland (19-7), seeded No. 7, forced seven turnovers in the third quarter after Grant made only six in the first half.

After being held to two points in the first half, point guard Grant Pledger of the Cavaliers led the onslaught.

Pledger scored 16 points and made most of his eight steals after halftime.

“I just wanted to make up for my efforts in the first half,” Pledger said. “All year long I’ve been trying to be a leader and in the second half I was totally in control.”

After holding a 30-27 lead midway through the third quarter, the shell-shocked Lancers (9-17, 12 losses by forfeit) were outscored 22-2 before Mike Charleston’s jumper made it 49-34 with 6:18 remaining.

Pledger scored 12 of the 22 points during the run.

“I sensed that they were tense and they didn’t want to win the game,” Pledger said. “They didn’t want to play ball with us.”

Coach Howard Levine of Grant, whose team finished with 20 turnovers, including 14 in the second half, said the Lancers should have been prepared for the pressure.

“It was tough but nothing that we haven’t seen before,” Levine said. “Considering what happened at the end of the third quarter, I guess it must have come as a surprise to us.”

Grant guard DeWayne Anderson said the Lancers suffered a breakdown on offense in the third quarter, when they scored only four points.

“I think they just turned up the pressure a lot and we just broke under the pressure,” Anderson said. “We just weren’t running our offense like we usually do.”

For the Cavaliers, it was precisely the impression they wanted to make.

Cleveland, which shared the West Valley League title with fourth-seeded Taft and is ranked No. 6 in the region, has won 12 of its last 13 games.

The Cavaliers are building momentum for second-seeded Westchester on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Cleveland in the quarterfinals last season.

“I think we made a statement when we lost a close one to Fairfax (in the quarterfinals) last year and I think we made an even bigger statement tonight,” he said.

Quenton Harvey finished with 14 points and six steals, Anthony Davis 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Jeston Thompson five points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots for Cleveland.

The Lancers were not intimidated by Cleveland’s full-court pressure in the first half, when they opened up a 26-23 lead.

Grant took the lead early in the second quarter and didn’t trail the rest of the half.

The Lancers were sparked by the rebounding of guard DeWayne Anderson and forward Mike Charleston. Anderson had six points in the half.