REDONDO BEACH – The Westchester High boys’ basketball team seemed to be well on the way to its first victory Tuesday night at Redondo Union High.
And it appeared as if win No. 1 – after a zip-3 start – was going to be of the decisive variety.
But the 21-point advantage the Comets took into the fourth quarter of its Ryse Williams/PAC Shores contest proved to be just enough cushion to secure a 74-72 decision against The Brentwood School.
Six-foot-eight junior Tajh Ariza scored 12 points in the third quarter – with three of his teammates knocking in 3s in the stanza – as the Comets, after consecutive losses to San Fernando Valley-based Chatsworth, Crespi and Harvard-Westlake, finally demonstrated why they were the consensus preseason choice to be the best team in the Los Angeles City Section.
But, in the fourth quarter . . . they committed six turnovers, took some ill-advised shots (aka, “time and score”) and couldn’t contest the 3-pont shooting of Coach Ryan Bailey’s Eagles, who hit six shots from behind the arc – four of those by senior Shane Frazier.
And, after Ariza (21 points and eight rebounds) missed two free throws with 8.8 seconds to go, Brentwood rebounded with a chance to send the game into overtime – or win.
But freshman Shalen Sheppard, after being forced to evade a defender with a pump fake, launched a 17-footer from near the top of the key that was wide right at the buzzer.
The loss dropped the Eagles to 7-1. They return to Redondo Union on Saturday to play Democracy Prep of Las Vegas in the auxiliary gym.
The Comets are in Washington, D.C., this weekend for a tournament.
In other games Tuesday at Redondo Union . . .
The two-time, defending State Open Division champion Harvard-Westlake Wolverines were up by 21 points over San Gabriel Academy going into the fourth quarter before a breakdown in their usual stout half-court offensive and defensive execution.
But, with junior guard Joe Sterling (21 points/pictured, courtesy renaissance media man Greg Stein) and Duke-bound, two-time, all-CIF selection Nikolas Khamenia (19) hitting key shots, the Wolverines regrouped just enough to never let their advantage drop below 14 points and prevailed, 67-48, improving to 5-zip.
They’ll make that Studio City to Redondo Beach trek again to play Bishop Montgomery Thursday (7) and Saturday (5:30) vs. defending Idah State champion Owyhee as part of the Take Flight Challenge.
The SGA Eagles (who fell to 1-5 after going 0-3 against the Mission League Power Trio of HW, Notre Dame and Sierra Canyon), made things much more competitive in the second half behind the play of 6-9 sophomore Mahamadou Diop (16 points and three or four “athletic things” that he may be only guy at his size in SoCal capable of) and 6-5 junior Mamadou Traore (12 points, including three 3s).
The Eagles are back at Redondo for a Thursday (5:45) game with Foothill in the Aux Gym.
And, in the other game played in the school’s main gym Tuesday, the host Sea Hawks rolled to 4-0 after their 97-39 win over Oak Park (winless in eight games).
Senior guard Brayden Miner hit seven 3s en route to a 27-point performance.
The Sea Hawks face another unbeaten, 8-0 Chaminade, Thursday night at 5:30.
In the auxiliary gym Tuesday night, Leuzinger (2-3) rallied to knock off Crean Lutheran (3-1), 55-51.
The Olympians got a team-high 11 points from freshman guard Jace Jones – the son of Leuzinger Coach Arturo Jones – including two fourth-quarter 3s, the second of which put his team up to stay.
And, in another tight contest, junior point guard Nana Ofoegbu hit three of four free throws in the final nine seconds to help 3-1 Long Beach Poly hand Windward its first loss in four games, 74-72.
The Jackrabbits face another quality opponent, 4-1 Sierra Canyon, Wednesday night (8) in Redondo’s main gym.
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