HIGH SCHOOLS : STATWATCH : Cooper’s Scoring a Consolation for Poly

Poly (3-4) was a surprise in the North Hollywood tournament, losing to Bell-Jeff, 83-77, in the first round, but defeating North Hollywood, 61-48, and Birmingham, 87-78, to win the consolation championship.

Scott Cooper led the charge, averaging a tournament-high 26.3 points a game, including 32 points on 13-of-19 shooting in the victory over Birmingham.

“He’s starting to come into his own,” Poly Coach Jay Werner said of Cooper. “He strained his ankle early in the season, but he’s really starting to play well and so is the team.”

Shooting: Grant forward Troy Mcleod has hit 72.4% of his field-goal attempts. Mcleod has made 21 of 29 attempts and is averaging 9.5 points and 8.8 rebounds. . . . Grant is shooting 47% and has held opponents to a shooting percentage of 42.5.

Thousand Oaks point guard Jeff Peterson is averaging 10.5 points and 4.3 assists. Todd Anderson, who is sidelined because of a sore ankle, leads the team with a 15-point scoring average, followed by John Bushart (11.5) and Darren McMaster (11). Going into the tournament they are hosting this week, the Lancers were shooting only 52% from the free-throw line.

Canyon senior guard Darren Oldenberg, the MVP on last year’s junior varsity, scored a career-high 32 points against Hart, the fourth-highest one-game total in school history. Oldenberg, who was 16 of 17 from the free-throw line, is a Boston Celtics fanatic. His teammates dubbed him “Bird.”

Harvard’s Brian Domyan is the Saracens’ leading scorer (16 ppg) and rebounder (10.1 rpg).

Notre Dame’s Brian Jones is averaging 26 points.

VALLEY BASKETBALL TOP 10

Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Cleveland Nth. Valley 4-2 2 9 Rio Mesa Channel 4-1 3 2 Taft Nth. Valley 6-1 4 4 El Camino Real W. Valley 3-1 5 6 Granada Hills Nth. Valley 5-1 6 7 Grant E. Valley 5-2 7 3 Bell-Jeff S.F. Valley 7-1 8 NR Westlake Marmonte 6-3 9 NR Kennedy Nth. Valley 5-2 10 10 Newbury Park Marmonte 6-0

NR--Not ranked.

Through Tuesday’s games.