Christians

If there were any doubt about this being the year of the freshman in high school basketball, all you needed to do was look at who was on the court Saturday in a sold-out rivalry game between Village Christian and visiting Heritage Christian.

“There were five freshmen out there,” Heritage Christian freshman guard Ty Lazenby said.

Make no mistake about how much young talent Heritage Christian has after a 74-71 victory that ended the Crusaders’ 11-game winning streak.

The Warriors (20-6, 6-2) start two freshmen and three sophomores. In high school sports, you never know who’s staying and going each year, but Heritage Christian is feeling good about its group.

“They had to reenroll by yesterday,” coach Paul Tait said.

Said Lazenby: “We’re figuring it out. In two years we’re going to be very good.”

On Saturday, Eli Simmons had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and fellow sophomore Houston Rolle scored 16 points. Lazenby had 15 points. Another freshman, Nalu Clark, the brother of Virginia NCAA champion guard Kihei Clark, had seven points and seven assists.

It was left to sophomore Tyler Jackson to put the finishing touch on the win, banking in a free throw with 11.9 seconds left for a three-point cushion that forced Village Christian’s outstanding freshman, Will Conroy Jr., to shoot a three to tie. It didn’t go.

Conroy finished with 28 points. The Crusaders got into trouble when they failed to get the ball to Conroy earlier, resulting in a turnover and forcing them to foul Jackson.

Village Christian still can win the Olympic League title outright with a win over Maranatha next week. Heritage Christian is rooting for Maranatha to produce a three-way tie for first.

Crespi 57, Harvard-Westlake 52: The Celts advanced to a Tuesday night Mission League tournament semifinal at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame by eliminating Harvard-Westlake, which lost for the third time in its last four games. Isaiah Barnes scored 19 points.

Loyola 60, St. Francis 57: Quincy Watson and Deuce Newt each scored 13 points to help the Cubs keep their playoff hopes alive. They advance to play top-seeded Sierra Canyon on Tuesday in a Mission League tournament semifinal.

Girls’ basketball

Ventura 46, Mater Dei 42: Kai Staniland and Emma Anter each scored 13 points in Ventura’s upset of the Monarchs.

Sierra Canyon 73, Oak Park 46: Jerzy Robinson scored 29 points in a matchup of Open Division teams.

Junior Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian has upped her scoring average this season. She’s No. 2 in the state with an average of 32.8 points a game. Virtually any college team in the country would welcome her with open arms.

There’s others making an impact in the scoring department this season, according to stats posted on MaxPreps.com.

Aryanna Reyes of Whittier Pioneer is at 30.1 points for 14 games.

Leqi Zhen of L.A. Lincoln is averaging 28.9 points in 10 games.

Rancho Christian freshman Addison Archer is averaging 27.0 points in 22 games.

Darby Dunn of Canyon Country Canyon has had some big scoring nights and is at 26.2 points over 25 games. Tatyana Aubry of Leuzinger is averaging 24.8 points over 25 games.

Ventura’s Kailee Staniland is averaging 23.3 points. Savannah Myles of Westchester is at 22.2 points through 19 games.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.