SHERMAN OAKS – Despite having to cope with the skill of as good a scorer as there is anywhere on the high school scene, the Harvard-Westlake boys’ basketball team took care of its “road” Mission League business Wednesday night.
And, almost immediately after the conclusion of the Wolverines’ 60-56 victory over the host Notre Dame Knights, Coach David Rebibo’s players and coaching staff got a pleasant surprise, too:
Crespi’s 64-61, overtime stunner at Sierra Canyon – the tournament’s No. 1 seed – means that the Wolverines (25-3), which went into the Mission playoff as the No. 3 seed, will play host to No. 4 seed Crespi (23-6) on their Studio City campus on Friday night at 7. The league’s automatic No. 1 seed into the CIF Southern Section playoffs at stake.
Should Harvard-Westlake prevail – the Wolverines won, 70-55, when they played at Crespi on Jan. 10 – it could end up as the No. 1 overall seed in the eight-team, Open Division playoff bracket that will be unveiled Sunday.
The Knights (24-3) – who dropped their third game in a row, including a clash with Las Vegas Bishop Gorman Saturday at the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei – topped the Wolverines, 59-54, during their Jan. 17 league meeting at Harvard-Westlake.
University of Houston-bound Mercy Miller was the driving force for the Knights in that game – as has been the case all season while averaging right at 30 ppg – with a 29-point effort.
And, despite missing the Bishop Gorman clash and being a “game-time decision” to play Wednesday night because of a strained groin muscle, Miller was again an oh-so-tough-to-defend force in the rematch with the Wolverines.
He scored 33 points (9 of 19 from the field, including four 3s, and 11 of 14 free throws), helping his team jump to a six-point lead in the first quarter and – after Harvard-Westlake started clicking on offense – hitting just enough shots to keep his team close to the end.
Junior guard Lino Mark (who also missed the Bishop Gorman game with a strain calf muscle) used his sizzling speed on the dribble to score 14 points over the first three quarters.
But, after being called for his fourth foul and returning a few minutes later, he finished with just a free throw the rest of the way. Miller and Mark combined for all of eight of their team’s points.
The Wolverines’ offensive balance was showcased by three reserves combining for 11 points, with senior Josh Engelberg, junior Isaiah Carroll, and sophomore Amir Jones each hitting 3s.
Superb 6-foot-8 junior Nikolas Khamenia (he got his only bucket on a fourth quarter layup and was one of 11 from the floor overall) struggled with his jumper all night for the Wolverines while being mostly defended by sophomore Zachary White but did grab seven rebounds with three assists.
So, it was left to Harvard-bound senior Robert Hinton – with 13 of his eventual 15 points – to lead the Wolverines to a five-point lead at intermission.
And then USC-bound Trent Perry (pictured) closed things out in the fourth quarter with 11 of his team-high 22 points.
Along with the Mission League semifinals, other Wednesday games with “potential Open Division repercussions” saw Windward (No. 8 in this week’s BurlisonOnBasketball Top 30) rally to beat visiting Campbell Hall, 72-67, in an overtime Gold Coast League clash.
And No. 9 St. Pius X/St. Matthias closed its regular season at 22-5 (and 10-0 in league) with its 72-62 win over Serra.
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