Evans, Braves Finish off Bell

VAN NUYS — As a standout running back for Birmingham High, Emmanuel Evans is used to plowing over people.

Then there was the steamroller job Evans did Wednesday night--on a basketball court--against Bell.

Evans scored nine points in the final five minutes to help the Braves flatten Bell, 53-50, in a City Section 3-A Division quarterfinal game at Birmingham.

Evans provided the only consistent offense for either team. He scored seven of the Braves’ final nine points, including a baseline jumper with 1:31 left that put Birmingham up, 53-48.

“We went into Manny and he turned the game around,” Birmingham Coach Al Bennett said. “We couldn’t find an offense, but finally started to hit it.”

Evans, a senior, finished with 18 points for fourth-seeded Birmingham (17-9), which tried to let Bell (16-10) back into the game by missing five free throws and committing a five-second violation in the final minute.

“I don’t know what was going on with the free throws,” said Evans, who was a Times’ All-Valley selection in football last season. “It’s a mystery to me.”

But Bell couldn’t solve the Birmingham defense, squandering three possessions in the final minute and having to force a three-point shot from the baseline by Mario Perez with five seconds left.

The shot rimmed out, as did Bell’s chances of repeating as 3-A champion.

The victory was particularly sweet for Birmingham swingman Stanley Fletcher, who missed a 41-38 semifinal loss last year to Bell because he pulled a groin muscle a few hours before tip-off while playing pick-up ball during lunch.

Fletcher wasn’t anywhere near a basketball court Wednesday afternoon.

“I didn’t do nothing [during lunch],” said the 6-foot-3 senior, who finished with 12 points. “I just sat.”

The laid-back approach didn’t entirely help--Fletcher told Bennett 45 minutes before the game that he was losing a battle with nervousness.

The start of the game being delayed 35 minutes because the Bell team bus was stuck in traffic.