three

Heritage Christian’s group of young players are developing, and the team is suddenly making progress.

Freshman Ty Lazenby made eight threes and finished with 31 points in a 71-56 win over Crossroads at South Pasadena on Monday.

Sophomore Houston Rolle added 27 points. Shalen Sheppard had 17 points for Crossroads.

St. Francis 61, Brentwood 56: Despite missing 7-foot-4 Cherif Millogo, the Golden Knights prevailed behind Luke Paulus, who had 24 points.

St. Anthony 69, San Pedro 67: Trystan Butardo had the winning layup for St. Anthony. Bryce Jackson had 25 points and AJ Bobich scored 20 points for 17-5 San Pedro.

Oxnard 52, North Hollywood 46: Mikey Duran-Morales led Oxnard with 20 points.

Bishop Alemany 61, Mayfair 52: Tyler Vuille had 21 points for Alemany.

St. John Bosco 65, Miami Columbus 56: Christian Collins scored 24 points and had nine rebounds in the Hoophall Classic win.

California 80, Pioneer 52: Leonel Castro had 32 points for Pioneer.

Chaminade 63, Eagle Rock 47: The Eagles received 28 points from Dylan Moran.

Fairfax 63, Crenshaw 45: The Lions continued their improvement with a win over the Cougars. Chris Stokes scored 15 points.

Crespi 77, Maranatha 37: The Celts cruised to victory.

Damien 66, Palisades 55: Eli Garner led the Spartans with 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.

Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 62, San Gabriel Academy 60: Michael Noel had 19 points for the big league win.

Girls basketball

Sage Hill 88, Bishop Gorman 58: Kamdyn Klamberg finished with 28 points and Amalia Holguin added 27 points in a win at Rosary.

Redondo Union 79, Windward 61: Abby Zimmerman contributed 20 points for Redondo Union. Charis Rainey scored 36 points for Windward, including 11 of 12 free throws.

Etiwanda 71, Francis Parker 45: Arynn Finley scored 21 points and Chasity Rice added 18 points for Etiwanda.

“Extra pass.”

Cleveland High coach Dagem Asfaw was yelling to his players at the end of the first half during a timeout to stop playing selfish basketball and start making the “extra pass.”

They listened in the second half Wednesday, and the Cavaliers took off, blowing out Granada Hills 72-47. The first three baskets in the third quarter were threes off passes. It’s clear that Cleveland (11-6, 1-0) has the most talented team in the West Valley League and the only question is will the players decide to find the open man. When they do, it’s doubtful any team will beat them.

Sophomore Sho Evans finished with 17 points and made four threes. Serigne Deme had 11 of his 13 points in the first quarter and finished with four dunks. TJ Wansa scored 13 points, all in the second half. Cleveland led by nine points at halftime.

Birmingham 75, Taft 57: Tekeio Phillips had 19 points and Charles Eleri 16 for the Patriots (10-4, 1-0) in their West Valley opener.

El Camino Real 55, Chatsworth 53: The Royals pulled out the win. Aarsh Singh, Aaron Krueger and Chris Rutherford each scored 11 points for Chatsworth.

Fairfax 66, Westchester 64: The Western League rivalry game goes to the Lions. Domonick Bowie Jr. had 16 points and Chris Stokes 15.

Palisades 87, Hamilton 48: The Dolphins had four players reach double figures. Jack Levey and EJ Popoola each had 22 points, Phillip Reed 19 and OJ Popoola 16.

San Pedro 74, Carson 50: Elias Redlew finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the 16-4 Pirates. AJ Bobich added 16 points.

Los Alamitos 57, Newport Harbor 40: Isaiah Williamson contributed 15 points for the Griffins.

Calabasas 64, Oaks Christian 62: The Coyotes handed Oaks Christian its first Marmonte League defeat in double overtime. Noah Simon made a three-point shot at the buzzer of the second overtime, his only points of the night. Tristan Cardoso and Johnny Thyfault each scored 16 points.

Verbum Dei 80, Bosco Tech 64: Sophomore Chase Coleman scored 20 points for Verbum Dei.

Girls basketball

Harvard-Westlake 42, Louisville 23: Valentina Guerrero, back from injury, scored 13 points for the Wolverines.

Sierra Canyon 79, Marlborough 31: Jerzy Robinson contributed 29 points and 10 rebounds for Sierra Canyon.

Birmingham 65, Taft 28: Kayla Tanijiri led the way for the Patriots with 15 points and Laecy Wilkins had 14 points.

Garo Ohannessian is known as a “lifer” at AGBU, an Armenian K-12 school in Canoga Park. He’s been there from the start and now he’s making a name for himself in high school basketball with his three-point shooting skills.

He set a school record making 13 threes and finishing with a career-high 45 points in a Dec. 30 win over Brawley.

He’s been a four-year varsity player and was a freshman when the team reached the Southern Section Division 2A playoff semifinals.

Coach Nareg Kopooshian has confidence in him to shoot from anywhere on the court. The 5-foot-10 senior has helped lead his team to a 13-2 record.

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