CITY BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES : 3-A Boys : Granada Hills Scores Upset, 60-55

Theoretically, Birmingham High School’s plan to shut down 6-9, 230-pound center Gary Gray of Granada Hills inside should have worked.

Birmingham Coach Jeff Halpern fronted Gray with 6-6 Keith Owens and posted him low with 6-6 Ennerea Maxwell.

Gray, however, scored 25 points and came up with 17 rebounds--both game highs--Friday night as Granada Hills upset top-ranked Birmingham, 60-55, before a crowd of 5,013 in the City 3-A boys’ final at the Sports Arena.

“Do you even need to ask who the best player in the 3-A is?� Granada Hills Coach Bob Johnson questionedwriters after the game. “You tell me.�

“He’s got some serious bulk in there,� Halpern said. “He’s a good player, and hard to get out of the way.�

Either way, Gray made 11 of 17 shots, a superhuman performance in light of the defensive assignments Birmingham threw at him. He scored 16 points in the second half, and Granada Hills built a 10-point lead, 50-40, with two baskets by Gray to open the fourth quarter.

Maxwell kept Birmingham close in the fourth quarter, scoring 6 of his team-high 21 points, while Owens struggled from the field. Owens, who averaged 17 points in the regular season, scored just 8, making 3 of 17.

Birmingham scored only seven points in the first quarter, and trailed 46-40 at halftime. Granada led by six, 46-40, going into the fourth quarter.

Gray gave Granada Hills a 56-46 lead on a running, right-handed hook at the 3:56 mark.

After Birmingham cut the lead to seven, Gray was stripped of the ball by Maxwell inside, but Maxwell missed the layup, which would have brought Birmingham within five.

Gray missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:36 left, but teammate Sean Brown got the rebound and scored, giving Granada Hills a 58-50 lead.

Birmingham came no closer than five after that.

This is the best I’ve felt in 19 years of coaching,� Johnson said. “It’s like a dream come true. I’ve never had a feeling like this in my entire life.�