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  LAGUNA NIGUEL –  The Harvard-Westlake High boys’ basketball team wrapped up the 2023-24 season the same way the Wolverines started it ­– sitting atop the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30 rankings.

Coach David Rebibo and his squad (picture, courtesy of Greg Stein, of them celebrating their State Open championship victory over Richmond of Salesian in Sacramento Saturday night) stumbled twice to Mission League foes Notre Dame and Sierra canyon over three nights in January.

But the Wolverines made all the required adjustments and closed with 10 consecutive wins to pick up Mission and CIF Southern Section Open titles, as well as a second consecutive State Open crown to finish 33-3.

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SACRAMENTO – The Harvard-Westlake boys basketball team had to do a lot of digging to pull out its three wins in the past eight nights.

And the kid with the biggest shovel in the gut-crunching wins over Carlsbad, Roosevelt and, finally,  Salesian of Richmond Saturday night in the CIF State Open Division championship game was Trent Perry.

The USC-bound and McDonald’s All-American guard scored the game’s final six points – and came up with a major league hustle play – to lead the Wolverines  to a 50-45 victory in the Golden 1 Center.

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SACRAMENTO – It didn’t the St. John Bosco High basketball team’s jump shooters long to get acclimated to the rims and the expansive setting of the NBA Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center Friday night.

Junior guard Chris Komin missed the Braves first shot 30 seconds into their CIF State Division I championship game with North Regional winner San Ramon Valley.

But then Coach Matt Dunn’s crew hit its next eight attempts – five of those from behind the 3-point arc – and the Braves were well on their way to what proved to be a 78-62 victory.

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Brandon Benjamin, a 6-foot-5 junior who averaged 13.7 points and 8.4 rebounds in 22 games for the Mater Dei High basketball team, has checked out of school and re-enrolled at Canyon of Anaheim, Monarchs Coach Gary McKnight confirmed Friday afternoon.

Benjamin was the Orange County Player of the Year last before transferring into Mater Dei.

He became eligible for the Monarchs after Christmas and was at his best for the Monarchs during the playoffs, including efforts of 22 points, 16 rebounds and six assists in the final CIF SS Open pool game with Roosevelt.

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BELLFLOWER – If the St. John Bosco High basketball team seemed reasonably comfortable in the most stressful of moments in its State Regional D-I semifinal with visiting Mater Dei Tuesday night, that’s with good reason:

Coach Matt Dunn’s Braves had grown used to playing ­– and winning – in that physical and emotional environment.

The hosts needed a four-minute overtime – and some significant defensive stands ­– to hold off their Trinity League rivals, 71-68, in front of an elbow-to-elbow crowd to earn a spot in Friday night’s State championship game in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center.

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