J.W. NORTH STEALS TITLE; HARVARD-WESTLAKE TURNOVERS PROVE COSTLY 60-48.

Byline: Chris Branam Daily News Staff Writer

With only 10 minutes left to play, it seemed clear the Harvard-Westlake girls' basketball team was going to walk away with a title.

Julia Gray stepped in, stole the ball and eventually the trophy.

Gray made four consecutive steals to lead top-seeded J.W. North to a come-from-behind 60-48 win over Harvard-Westlake in the Green Division championship game at the Tournament of Champions on Tuesday at Santa Barbara City College.

The Huskies, whose only loss in 10 games this season is to Brea Olinda, which played for the TOC Gold Division title, trailed by 10 at 41-31 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

The Huskies went on a 10-2 run to close out the quarter.

Gray, a senior guard bound for the University of Washington, made consecutive steals on inbound passes by the Wolverines in the final 30 seconds of the third. Both led to baskets.

``I knew I had to do something,'' said Gray, who was playing with three fouls at the time. ``I didn't want to let the team down.''

The Huskies built on that momentum and outscored the Wolverines (9-2) 14-2 to open the fourth quarter. Gray had 10 of her team-high 16 points in the second half.

``It was just panic, a panic situation,'' Harvard-Westlake coach Brian Taylor said of the Wolverines' five consecutive turnovers that turned the game around.

The Wolverines ended up scoring just five points in the final eight minutes.

``We ran out of gas,'' Taylor said. ``We couldn't even move. You could see it as a team.''

The Wolverines were led by Corrie Roberts, who had 16 points and two 3-pointers. Harvard-Westlake's Umelogo Udeze, an all-tournament pick, had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Crescenta Valley 50, Archbishop Mitty 47: Michelle Greco was effective on both ends of the court in the final minute to help lift the Falcons to fifth place in the Gold Division at SBCC.

Greco, who was named all-tournament for the second consecutive year, made a three-point play with 40 seconds left to give Crescenta Valley (6-1) a 49-47 lead, then blocked a layup attempt by Domenica Curran with 10 seconds remaining.

Greco scored 24 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, had four assists and made five steals.

``We definitely have been playing really well,'' Greco said. ``This has been great preparation for the Thousand Oaks Tournament.''

Sinnamonn Garrett had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Falcons, whose only loss in the tournament came to New York City's Christ the King.

Archbishop Mitty (7-2) won the state Division III title in 1995 and lost in the state Division I final in '96. The Monarchs, who returned four starters from last season, were ranked No. 11 in Cal-Hi Sports' preseason state poll.

Rincon Valley Christian 48, Palmdale 23: The Falcons managed just eight points in the first half and fell in the Green Division's 11th-place game at Santa Barbara High.

Rincon Valley Christian, the defending state Division V champion, got 15 points from Becky Carpenter and 14 from Leslie Dubois. Palmdale dropped to 4-6.