The No. 1 high school basketball team in California, 27-1 Harvard-Westlake, was taken to the brink of defeat by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in the Mission League championship game on Wednesday night.
The Knights had the ball down by one point with under 35 seconds left. There was a missed shot, then a traveling call. Harvard-Westlake’s Joe Sterling and Nikolas Khamenia made free throws under pressure, and the Wolverines prevailed 67-64 for their seventh consecutive league title.
Notre Dame (22-6) rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit, taking a 62-60 lead on a Tyran Stokes basket with 1:35 left. Then Khamenia made a three-point shot for a 63-62 Harvard-Westlake lead. Stokes was called for an offensive foul while being guarded by Khamenia with 1:01 left, fouling out.
Tyran Stokes of Sherman Oaks Notre Dames tries to fire up the crowd after the Knights rallied from a 15-point deficit.
(Craig Weston)
“Too many small mistakes down the stretch,” Khamenia said. “I had to make that shot. I had to continue fighting. I owed that to my team.”
Throughout the second half, the Knights were out-hustling Harvard-Westlake. They scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter and forced six turnovers. They almost overcame foul trouble to Stokes, who picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the third quarter.
“We’re tough,” Notre Dame coach Matt Sargeant said. “We’re resilient. We don’t quit.”
Khamenia finished with 24 points and Joe Sterling had 20 for Harvard-Westlake. Zachary White scored 18 points, NaVorro Bowman had 14 points and Stokes 13.
“It’s one of the best leagues around,” Harvard-Westlake coach David Rebibo said. “Notre Dame is arguably one of the best teams in California.”
Now Harvard-Westlake and Notre Dame await Saturday’s Southern Section playoff pairings to be released. The Wolverines should be the No. 1 seed for the Open Division and Notre Dame, after winning consecutive Division 1 championships, should be in the the Open Division, too, which means a third meeting is possible. Harvard-Westlake has won both.
A late-breaking discussion is whether there should be eight or 10 teams selected for the Open Division. With the Southern Section guaranteeing only eight teams for the state playoffs from that division, two teams would be eliminated with a 10-team bracket. That would create more issues. Should teams that had terrific regular seasons lose out from participating in state playoffs for having the worst records in pool playoff play? That’s motivation alone to stick with an eight-team bracket.
Inglewood 98, Culver City 74: Jason Crowe Jr. finished with 45 points in the Ocean League championship game.
La Mirada 87, Mayfair 53: The Matadores (24-4) won their fourth straight league title. Gene Roebuck had 21 points and Julien Gomez 20.
Anaheim Canyon 64, Cypress 56: Brandon Benjamin had 29 points to help Canyon secure an automatic playoff berth in the Division 1 bracket.
Rancho Cucamonga 62, Etiwanda 58: Aaron Glass scored 38 points to help Rancho Cucamonga win the Baseline League championship.
Damien 66, Los Osos 43: Eli Garner finished with 21 points as Damien earned an automatic playoff berth out of the Baseline League.
Windward 85, Campbell Hall 62: JJ Harris and Jeremiah Hampton each scored 24 points to help Windward claim second place in Gold Coast League.
Palisades 64, Hamilton 49: Jack Levey had 14 points for Palisades, which plays at Westchester on Friday to determine first place in the Western League.
Westchester 75, Fairfax 67: The Comets remained unbeaten in the Western League. Tajh Ariza finished with 40 points.
King/Drew 51, Crenshaw 33: Josahn Webster had 22 points for King/Drew.
Chatsworth 64, El Camino Real 55: Alijah Arenas had 26 points for the Chancellors.
Birmingham 77, Taft 68: Mandell Anthony scored 32 points and Andre Smith 24 for the Patriots.
Girls basketball
Etiwanda 87, Los Osos 61: The Eagles won their 25th consecutive Baseline League championship.
Hart 41, Canyon 40: The Hawks won the Foothill League championship behind Morgan Mack, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds.