El Camino Real Perfect Cure for Birmingham

VAN NUYS —  Several members of the Birmingham High boys’ basketball team were feeling the effects of flu as they headed into Wednesday’s Northwest Valley Conference game against El Camino Real.

But the Braves felt much better after they turned back a fourth-quarter rally to beat El Camino Real, 61-57, at Birmingham.

Birmingham (14-6, 4-1) was led by guard Fahim Hassankhail, forward Stanley Fletcher and center Raymond Kizzee, all of whom have been ill this week.

“In warmups, everybody was all dead and not feeling very good,” said Kizzee, who had team-highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 11 of his points in the second quarter to help Birmingham break ties of 12-12 and 20-20 and lead 34-25 at halftime.

It was clutch play by Hassankhail and Fletcher that put the Conquistadores (6-11, 1-4) away in the second half. Fletcher scored six of his 14 points and Hassankhail had five of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Birmingham built a 10-point lead (46-36) with 7:30 to play after Fletcher hit a 16-foot jump shot for his first points since the second period.

The Braves, however, committed turnovers on three of their next four possessions and El Camino Real went on an 11-1 run, tying the game at 47-47 on a three-point shot by Ryan Moss with 3:45 remaining.

Elan Buller made three steals in that run. He finished with 23 points and six steals for El Camino Real. Moss added 12 points and seven rebounds and Demond Daniels had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Birmingham responded with the next 10 points to take a 57-47 lead with less than two minutes left. Included in the outburst was a steal and layup by Hassankhail. A three-point basket and free throw by Fletcher, a rebound basket by Ed Maldur and a pair of free throws by Emmanuel Evans also contributed to the run.

Evans, one of the healthy Braves, finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.