Grant Holds On for Victory Despite Suffering Brownout

It wasn’t an artistic success for the Grant High boys’ basketball team.

Not with 21 turnovers and 24 fouls, including two players who fouled out.

But it was a victory and that seemed to outweigh everything else.

Despite a remarkable performance by Cecil Brown of Canoga Park, the Lancers held on for a 70-64 victory Wednesday in a Sunset Six League opener at Canoga Park High.

“It’s a good win,” said Coach Howard Levine of Grant. “They’re growing as a team. They showed some great resolve and that’s nice to see.”

The Lancers (11-5) won despite 38 points by Brown, including 25 in the fourth quarter.

Brown, leading scorer in the region, made 12 of 14 free throws and three three-point baskets in the quarter.

“He’s just a great player,” Levine said. “He showed what he could do in the fourth quarter. He’s a great shooter.”

Unfortunately for the Hunters (7-9), that wasn’t the case for most of the game.

When it was over, Coach Ralph Turner of Canoga Park was dwelling on what happened in the other three quarters.

The Hunters fell behind, 14-2, in the first six minutes. There was also a four-minute stretch at the start of the third quarter, when Grant went on a 10-2 run to open up a 45-25 lead.

“The difference in the game was the first five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half,” Turner said. “We came out flat both times and Grant took it to us.”

The Lancers contained Brown in the first three quarters, limiting him to 13 points by alternating Nino Loquellano, Mike Shabtai and Harout Merdkhanian against him on defense.

The strategy worked until the Hunters went on an 11-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 46-41 with 5:13 remaining.

Brown, who is being recruited by Fresno State and UC Santa Barbara, scored eight of his team’s 11 points during the run.

It wasn’t something that came as a surprise to the Lancers.

Even after they extended their lead to 67-53 late in the game, Brown came back to score his team’s final 11 points.

Brown only wished he had started his scoring barrage sooner.

“I should’ve done it earlier,” he said. “I should’ve done it in the third quarter and then it could have been different.”

Chris Robinson had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Mike Charleston had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Gino Riney had 14 points and eight assists for the Lancers.

Brown, the only player for the Hunters to score in double figures, also had nine rebounds.