LOS ANGELES – The most significant high school boys’ basketball rivalry in Southern California is going to get a third renewal this season.
Western League foes Fairfax and Westchester bagged L.A. City Section Open semifinal victories Saturday night at L.A. Southwest College to earn their spots in the championship game, on the same court, seven nights later.
The Lions (26-4), who knocked off Westchester twice in league play and came into the playoffs as the top seed, locked into No. 4 seed Birmingham, defensively, from Jump Street Saturday night to prevail, 58-39.
The Patriots (19-8) got few – if any – clean looks from behind the arc while hitting just two 3s and were challenged on all of their drives.
Fairfax, in its first season under Coach Reggie Morris Jr., got a combined 51 points from the best sophomore in the L.A. City Section, D.J. Dudley (18), and seniors Justin Gladney (18) and Keith Dinwiddie (15).
Six-foot-three post Jesse Park didn’t score (he only shot attempt was spanked out of bounds by Elisha Cofield) but contributed in every other fashion with seven rebounds, four assists and three charges taken for the Lions.
Birmingham (likely to land in the State Southern Regional Division I field when it’s unveiled on March 1) got a team-high 10 points from junior Corey Cofield II while his older brother added eight points to go with nine rebounds.
Westchester (21-8), in the first of the semis played Saturday night, trailed King/Drew, 27-19, when Comets’ Coach Ed Azzam called a timeout with 2:05 to go before intermission.
He wasn’t happy and he and staff let the players know that in no uncertain terms.
When those players went back on the floor, the defense was ratcheted a couple of notches and, after intermission, the Comets went ahead to stay (37-34) via an “And 1” by forward David Huggins set up by a penetration and dish by senior Ky-mani Pollard with 9.7 seconds to go in the third quarter.
The most dominant “big” in the L.A. City ranks – 6-7 Fedelis Okereke – sustained that reputation throughout for King/Drew while finishing with 17 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots.
But the depth (Azzam shuffled players in and out on nearly every stoppage of play), defensive tenacity and scoring balance of the Comets was too much for even Okereke’s forceful presence to counteract.
Slick left-handed junior guards T.J. Wainwright and JoJo Johnson – transfers from Santa Monica and Damien, respectively – scored 16 points apiece for Westchester while Pollard added 10.
Thirteen of the Comets’ fourth-quarter points came from the free-throw line.
King/Drew (22-8) is expected to join Birmingham in the State Southern Regional DI bracket with the Comets and Fairfax – regardless of who prevails in the Feb. 29 title game – among the eight State Southern Open squads.
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