Boys’ basketball: Griffin Cohen shows he belongs at the varsity level
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Griffin Cohen of West Hills Chaminade is a junior varsity basketball legend in the Mission League. He scored 38 points in a JV game last season. But the big question was could he succeed at the varsity level?
On Tuesday night, the 5-foot-9 senior finally made his varsity debut, and he came through with 22 points and made four three-pointers in Chaminade’s 73-58 victory over Sylmar in the Santa Monica tournament.
People within the Chaminade program rave about Cohen’s shooting ability. He doesn’t leave practice until he makes 100 three-pointers. He helped the Eagles (1-0) break open the game in the third quarter with two three-pointers.
‘I was nervous because it was my first varsity game,’ Cohen said. ‘At halftime, I realized it was just like any other game, and I started shooting like I normally would.’
Jack Williams added 18 points and 17 rebounds and freshman Trevor Stanback had 12 points and 14 rebounds. The Eagles will face El Camino Real on Thursday at 8 p.m.
El Camino Real (5-0) defeated Fremont, 85-30. Julian Richardson scored 17 points and Michael Thomas 13.
West Ranch (2-0) cruised to a 75-39 win over Palmdale. Ako Kaluna, a 6-8 senior who signed with Northern Arizona, scored 14 points and had a couple of Kevin Love-like outlet passes that led to fast-break baskets. Kevin Harris had 11 points.
West Ranch will face defending state Division III champion Alemany in Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. quarterfinals. Alemany opened with a 68-47 win over Culver City. Sophomore Bennie Boatwright scored 18 points, junior Bear Henderson had 13 points and junior Brandon Boyd had 10 points.
-- Eric Sondheimer