Cleveland Turns Back Taft, 69-64

Dozens of spectators were turned away Friday night, but those who made it into the sold-out Reseda Cleveland gymnasium saw Nick Young score 31 points and the Cavaliers, ranked 12th in the Southland by The Times, defeat No. 6 Woodland Hills Taft, 69-64, in a West Valley League boys’ basketball game.

Cleveland (16-3, 2-1 in league play) used man-to-man pressure defense to avenge a 61-60 loss to Taft (13-3, 2-1) two weeks ago. Jordan Farmar was nearly a one-man team Friday for the Toreadors, scoring 18 of their first 19 points and finishing with 33.

Taft trailed by 15 points in the second quarter, then rallied to within one, 37-36, with 4:29 left in the third. Cleveland then went on a 9-0 run, led by Young’s five consecutive points.

The first Taft player to score other than Farmar was Matt Cook two minutes before halftime.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Compton Dominguez 59, Lynwood 52 -- The fourth-ranked Dons scored the final five points to pull away for the San Gabriel Valley League victory at Dominguez.

Dominguez had trouble stopping Jerry-Davon Jefferson, a 6-foot-8 junior forward. He scored 28 of his game-high 30 points before going to the bench after receiving his fourth foul with 3:43 left in the third quarter and the No. 8 Knights leading, 40-36.

Dominguez (13-5, 2-0) then scored six unanswered points to take its first lead since early in the second quarter. Jefferson returned one minute into the fourth quarter, only to see A.J. Tolbert make a bank shot to give the Dons a 49-45 led.

The Knights (12-3, 1-1) cut the lead to two, at 54-52, on two free throws by Ashley Palmer with 2:41 left but missed their final five shots.

Jefferson scored Lynwood’s first 14 points and 24 of its first 26.

Bryan Harvey scored 14 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to lead Dominguez.

-- Dan Arritt