Joe Sterling, one of the best three-point shooters in the country, tried to put up a three-point attempt from long range at the outset of the third quarter on Wednesday night at Sierra Canyon. He must have forgotten who was guarding him, because Brandon McCoy came flying like Superman to block the shot, then took the deflected ball, dribbled and delivered an uncontested dunk.
“I knew he was going to shoot it,” McCoy said.
McCoy’s athleticism was on display all night as No. 1-ranked Sierra Canyon put itself in position to be the No. 1 seed for next week’s Mission League tournament with a 55-47 home victory over Harvard-Westlake.
McCoy finished with 20 points, including back-to-back threes in the second quarter when he helped Sierra Canyon (19-1, 5-0) wipe away an early deficit. He had zero points in the first quarter and 20 points the rest of the way.
“I wanted him to be more aggressive,” Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier said. “He went into attack mode.”
Not only was McCoy contributing on offense, but his defense helped the Trailblazers hold Harvard-Westlake’s leading scorer, Sterling, to a season-low five points. He made one of eight shots and got into foul trouble.
“The fact he’s playing defense at a high level is amazing,” Chevalier said. “That’s what college coaches are looking for.”
Sierra Canyon also received a strong performance from 6-foot-8 Brannon Martinsen, who had 16 points. “I found my role,” he said. “It was figuring out how to complement guys as good as me.”
Pierce Thompson led No. 3 Harvard-Westlake (21-3, 4-1) with 14 points. The Wolverines struggled against Sierra Canyon’s half-court trap and didn’t have enough offensive contributors with Sterling taken out of the game by the Trailblazers’ defense.
“They’re good,” Harvard-Westlake coach David Rebibo said. “I don’t think they’re invincible. They’re deep and versatile. That’s what makes them so dangerous.”
The Mission League will hold a tournament beginning Jan. 29. The first two teams in the regular-season standings are guaranteed Southern Section playoff berths. Harvard-Westlake closes with tough matchups against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Saturday and St. Francis at home next week. Sierra Canyon has a home game against Crespi and a road game against Chaminade.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 68, Crespi 56: NaVorro Bowman scored 33 points for the Knights.
Loyola 104, Bishop Alemany 70: Deuce Newt had 50 points and made 10 threes for Loyola. Austin Acy, a freshman, had 40 points for Alemany.
St. Francis 66, Chaminade 56: Cherif Millogo had 20 points and Luke Paulus 17 for St. Francis.
Santa Margarita 102, Servite 69: Drew Anderson finished with 35 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles.
St. John Bosco 56, JSerra 50: Christian Collins scored 30 points and Max Ellis and Tariq Iscandari had key threes to stay unbeaten in the Trinity League.
Mater Dei 81, Orange Lutheran 79: Zain Majeed scored with 1.5 seconds left for Mater Dei. Luke Barnett had 23 points and became Mater Dei’s career three-point leader with 373 moving past Taylor King.
Corona del Mar 76, Los Alamitos 54: Ryan Mansouri scored 23 points for 23-1 Corona del Mar.
Cleveland 56, Chatsworth 55: Aaron Krueger led Chatsworth with 17 points.
Birmingham 74, Granada Hills 53: Tekeio Phillips had 16 points and Christian Graham 15 to help the Patriots set up a showdown with Cleveland on Friday to decide first place in the West Valley League.
El Camino Real 44, Taft 43: The Royals made a three at the end to win.
Narbonne 63, San Pedro 62: Branden Key had 24 points to help Narbonne pull off the Marine League upset.