Braves Don’t Stall on the Way to Victory

VAN NUYS â€”  Birmingham High Coach Al Bennett figured to be the among the last to embrace the new 35-second shot clock.

His recent teams used a methodical, deliberate offense that was often successful against more-athletic teams.

Occasionally, the Braves would even stall for minutes at a time.

But now he has enough talent that the shot-clock isn’t a problem. An 82-74 victory over Grant on Tuesday night in the final of the Birmingham boys’ basketball tournament proved the Braves (9-4) have plenty of scoring to go around.

Senior forward Emmanuel Evans scored 28 points and Stanley Fletcher added 25, 17 in the first half.

Fletcher took 26 shots from the field. In past years, Birmingham would take that many as a team.

“We’ve got a little bit of a height disadvantage but we’re quick,� Evans said. “It doesn’t matter as long as we win on the scoreboard.�

The Braves managed to slow down Lancer junior Gilbert Arenas in the second half. After scoring 22 in the first half, Arenas had only two points in the third quarter, before finishing with 37.

Birmingham led by 16 midway through the fourth quarter, before a furious comeback by Grant (8-6) cut the lead to 79-74 with 40 seconds left.

Grant had possession but Arenas missed a shot and Adam Kopulsky sank two free throws with 19 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

The Braves first took control late in the first quarter, building a five-point lead, highlighted by a three-point basket by Fletcher.

Birmingham stretched the lead to 21-13 on another three-pointer by Fletcher before Grant began its comeback.

The Lancers took the lead midway through the second quarter when Krishna Evans tipped in a miss by Hans Hoehn.

But Fletcher scored nine points in the next three minutes as Birmingham led at the half, 40-37.

Evans scored 10 points in the third quarter as Birmingham led 62-51 after three quarters.

Fletcher had five three-pointers for the Braves. Arenas finished 15 of 30 from the field.

Mike Yildiz scored 13 points, including three three-point baskets, and Krishna Evans added 10 points for Grant.

Besides Fletcher and Evans, four players scored at least seven points for Birmingham. Point guard Fahim Hassankail scored eight points and Kopulsky, Jerome Riley and Alex Salas each had seven.

Birmingham JV 62, Sherman Oaks CES 58--Michael Johnson had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Braves in the seventh-place game.

Adam Khalil scored 16 for Birmingham, while Lawrence Lowe scored 26 for the Knights (1-9).