Harvard-Westlake, ranked No. 4 in the Southland by The Times, shifted to a higher gear in the second half and pulled away from the No. 19 Knights in the sixth game on Day 2 of the annual hoops showcase that featured eight teams in The Times’ Top 25 and four of the top five schools in California.
Senior point guard Trent Perry led the way with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, junior forward Nikolas Khamenia added 16 points, senior guard Josh Engelberg had 13 points and senior guard Robert Hinton had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Wolverines, who improved to 23-3 with maximum energy and effort over the final 16 minutes after being tied 32-32 at intermission.
“Losing is humbling for anyone, especially when your expectations are so high,” Perry said. “It made jus realize we’re not unbeatable. We’re playing better now, we’re not going to be lazy. Each game is a great opportunity and this win gives us positive momentum heading into the [Mission League] tournament. Coach told us at halftime to make your defense your offense and we got into transition and got easy buckets.”
Since back-to-back league losses to No. 1 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Jan. 17 and No. 3 Sierra Canyon two days later, Harvard-Westlake has been looking more like the team that opened the season with 15 straight wins and spent one month at the top of The Times weekly rankings. Having blown out Chaminade and St. Francis by 30-point margins on Wednesday and Friday and handling a gritty Foothill squad Saturday, the Wolverines suddenly have their swagger back and that could spell trouble for future foes.
“We’re hungrier and we’re ready to go to battle,” added sophomore center Dominique Bentho, who had five points and six rebounds. “We learned from those losses and we’re tougher. They taught us to go 100 percent, no matter who we’re playing. We know what to expect, we dialed in on our mistakes. The No. 1 seed is the goal.”
Having dealt Notre Dame its first loss with a comeback win Friday, Sierra Canyon will be the No. 1 seed for next week’s Mission League Tournament and thus gets to avoid playing Notre Dame or Havard-Westlake until the league championship game Friday.The league is so strong that it may feature the top three seeds in the Open Division playoffs when brackets are released next Sunday. Looming for Harvard-Westlake on Wednesday is a rematch with Notre Dame, which prevailed 59-54 in the teams’ previous meeting.
“We’re moving the ball more and playing harder defense—that’s the biggest difference,” Perry said. “Watching the film we lost those games because the ball wasn’t moving and when you don’t move the ball it makes you easier to defend.”
Isaiah Bernard scored 12 points, Danny Kennard had 11 and Mansur McClain added 10 for Foothill (18-8).