ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Presence of Brown Looms Large : Granada Hills’ 230-Pound Forward Named Tournament MVP

Backed into a corner of the North Hollywood High gym, Granada Hills Coach Bob Johnson was asked to ad lib, to crack wise, about the size advantage his team holds on the front line. At one forward, Johnson starts Alvin Brown, a 6-foot, 5-inch senior who weighs in the neighborhood of 230 pounds. Right next door is 6-7, 230-pound forward Joey Rosas, another senior.

“If Houston had the Twin Towers,” Johnson was asked, “then what are Brown and Rosas?”

It was a loaded question, but then, Brown and Rosas are quite a load. We’re not talking height, we’re talking a weightier issue.

“Hmmm,” Johnson said, grinning. “Better give me a minute on that one. You know, we really should come up with some kind of name for those two.”

Brown and Rosas led Granada Hills (5-1) to the North Hollywood tournament title last week, but it was Brown who, well, anchored the Highlander attack. Brown averaged 19.3 points in the 3 tournament games and saved his best for the final, in which he scored 19 points in the Highlanders’ 85-69 win over unbeaten Bell-Jeff.

Brown also had 22 rebounds and blocked 5 shots, and he helped limit Bell-Jeff center Nick Sanderson to 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting.

It capped a solid 3-game performance for Brown, whose athlete-of-the-week effort included 17 points in an 89-87 win over Birmingham in the tournament opener and 22 against Grant in a 69-59 semifinal win. Granada Hills’ win over Bell-Jeff in the final Saturday was the team’s fifth in a row after a season-opening loss to North Hollywood.

In Brown’s eyes, the Highlanders had a long climb back to respectability after the 73-67 loss to North Hollywood. Granada Hills, he said, had not been playing to the level many expected when the team was selected as one of the Valley’s top City Section teams in the preseason.

“Since we lost that game, people thought we were a joke,” Brown said.

Which, coincidentally, brings us to the matter of Brown’s real weight--which he says is 230. Mention of this elicits a robust laugh from Johnson.

“He’s probably closer to 240, maybe more,” said Johnson, who had to specially order a new uniform for Brown this season. “He was 230 last year. But I really don’t know, we haven’t weighed him lately. Maybe we’ve been afraid to.”

Well, if added weight means added productivity, somebody should give this guy the keys to the concession stand. Last season, Brown averaged 17.5 points and 12.6 rebounds a game, numbers he will easily improve upon at his current pace.

The emergence of Rosas, whose play Johnson characterized as timid last season, has allowed Brown more room to maneuver down low.

“Last year, he didn’t want to get physical,” Brown said of Rosas, who averaged 13.3 points in the tournament and was selected to the all-tournament team, as was Brown and Highlander guard John Johnson. “This year, people don’t want to stick him. I know I don’t want to stick him in practice.”