Starters From 4 City Teams Lose Eligibility

Four more starters on Northwest Valley Conference boys’ basketball teams were felled by the academic ax Wednesday when first-semester grades were finalized at area City Section schools.

Starters were lost at Kennedy, Cleveland, Granada Hills and El Camino Real, all of which are expected to advance to the City Section playoffs, which begin Feb. 15.

Cleveland, which leads the North Valley League by one game with one remaining, lost senior forward Kayheed Murray, who was averaging 13.9 points a game. Murray said that his semester grade-point average was 1.9, below the required 2.0.

“I didn’t live up to my expectations as a student,” said Murray, who watched from the stands Wednesday as Cleveland fell to Granada Hills in double overtime. “It was my mistake and I have to live with it.”

Granada Hills lost point guard Jevon Lee, a senior who averaged 7.9 points.

El Camino Real lost off-guard Clyde Price, the team’s leading scorer at 14.4 points a game. Price, a senior who Tuesday was believed eligible after an apparent grade change, also was averaging six rebounds.

Kennedy will be without the services of forward Alan Johnson.