ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Maxwell Giving Birmingham Maximum Control

Led by senior forwards Ennerea Maxwell and Keith Owens, Birmingham High rolled to 19 regular-season wins and the Northwest Valley League championship. But when Owens lost his shooting touch last week the Birmingham gym became Maxwell’s house.

In Friday’s City Section 3-A semifinal game against Los Angeles, Maxwell scored a career-high 32 points and his two free throws with 12 seconds left gave Birmingham a 58-56 win. A week ago, Maxwell scored 20 points in the Braves’ 56-48 victory over University.

Although they will play Granada Hills for the City 3-A championship Friday at the Sports Arena, the top-seeded Braves had a tougher road to the final than many expected. Birmingham (22-2) was taken into overtime by Venice in the first round and has won its three playoff games by an average of four points.

Maxwell, a 6-6 senior, is averaging 21 points per game in the playoffs, four more than his regular-season average.

“We’ve never gone this far before and some of the players have seemed too hyped and have not performed as well as they could,” Birmingham Coach Jeff Halpern said. “He provided the offensive leadership and that’s what we’ve needed.”

Said Maxwell: “Keith’s shot wasn’t falling last week and somebody had to take control.”

At the season’s outset, Northwest Valley League’s coaches thought the league had several imposing big men, but Maxwell wasn’t included on the list. Not one opposing coach gave Maxwell the same respect accorded Gary Gray (Granada Hills, 6-9), Shelton Boykin (San Fernando, 6-4) or Kendell McDaniels (Chatsworth, 6-5).

Maxwell has proved them wrong, but he still hasn’t reached all of his goals for the season.

“When I first came here I wanted to win a championship at Birmingham,” Maxwell said. “That’s been my motivation.”

On Friday, he’ll get his chance.