Poly Has Final Word Against San Fernando

James Word scored 29 points, including 12 in the second quarter, and Poly High defeated San Fernando, 74-68, Wednesday night in a City Division boys’ basketball quarterfinal game at San Fernando.

Word, who made three three-point shots and had 17 rebounds, hit six of eight free throws in the fourth quarter when San Fernando was forced to foul.

The 13th-seeded Parrots (15-11) made 13 of 16 free throws in the quarter.

Poly got 10 points from Joe Edwards and Steve Smith grabbed 10 rebounds.

San Fernando, seeded 12th, got 22 points from Mike Hernandez and 17 from Roger Martinez.

In other City Division quarterfinal games:

North Hollywood 48, Wilmington Banning 41--Rahnell Johnson made six free throws in the final minute to help lift the Huskies (14-12) in a game at North Hollywood.

Johnson scored his 10 points on free throws.

North Hollywood won its second playoff game after closing the regular season with losses to Sylmar, Grant and Canoga Park.

Banning led, 12-3, midway through the first quarter, but the Huskies went on a 30-7 run over the next 12 minutes to take a 33-19 lead at halftime.

“We started out real impatient against their zone,” said Rob Bloom, North Hollywood’s coach. “But then we called a 20-second timeout, settled down and picked up our defensive intensity.”

Hollywood 60, Kennedy 59--Vahe Melikyan converted a three-point play with nine seconds left to lift the Sheiks in a game at Kennedy.

Melikyan scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, when Hollywood rallied from a 47-38 deficit after three quarters.

Kennedy (15-10) got the ball back after Melikyan’s basket, but Nana Gbewonyo, who had 23 points, missed two shots.