HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL NORTH HOLLYWOOD TOURNAMENT : Huskies Edge Chatsworth, 60-58, as Hill Finds Mark in 2nd Half

North Hollywood High senior Robert Hill knows full well the philosophy of shooting because he is a charter member of the Perimeter Gunners Assn., if not president of the San Fernando Valley chapter.

Throw up a few misguided rocks? Just shrug it off. Don’t let a few shards of backboard glass keep you down.

Hill experienced the ice-cold end of the shooting spectrum during the first half of the North Hollywood tournament final Saturday night. His first-half total of two points said it all.

“All or nothing,” Hill said. “All or nothing.”

In the second half, Hill corrected his sights and finished with a game-high 25 points to lead the Huskies to a 60-58 victory over Chatsworth. “At first, nobody could hit anything,” Hill said. “Coach told us at halftime to keep shooting.”

Music to Hill’s ears. The off-guard nailed a pair of three-point baskets in the final 40 seconds of the third quarter to give North Hollywood (10-1) a 42-37 lead entering the final period.

Hill made seven of 11 shots after a one-for-nine cold snap in the first half. He scored 17 of his team’s 19 points spanning the end of the third quarter and the first 3 minutes 15 seconds of the fourth quarter, but Chatsworth (7-3) did not back off.

Chatsworth center Brady Mertes (18 points) made a turnaround jump shot from six feet to bring the Chancellors to within 57-53 with 2:35 left. But Chatsworth’s next two shots were swatted away by the Huskies’ sophomore forward, Damon Ollie, who finished with 12 points and the most-valuable-player trophy.

Hill added two free throws with 27 seconds left to give North Hollywood a 59-53 lead. With 20 seconds left, Chris Dunbar (14 points) drilled a three-point shot to cut the lead to three, and North Hollywood’s Doc Hazzard was fouled on the other end of the floor. However, Hazzard missed the front end of a one-and-one, Chatsworth controlled the rebound and called time out.

The trouble was that Chatsworth had no timeouts remaining and was assessed a technical foul. Hill converted one free throw to give North Hollywood a 60-56 lead with nine seconds left.

In other games:

Reseda 47, Grant 46--Trenton Cross made two free throws with four seconds remaining in the third-place game to give Reseda (4-3) its first victory over Grant in its past nine tries.

Bell-Jeff 67, Granada Hills 52--Brian Lee (20 points) led Bell-Jeff (6-2) to the consolation title.