Gearing up for King and Westchester in Division I quarterfinal

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

An hour before the start of Riverside King and host Westchester in a Southern California Regional Division I quarterfinal boys’ basketball game and I’m wondering how I lucked into covering this one.

Best game on tonight’s schedule, no doubt.

The Comets are seeded fourth and King is fifth. Both were ranked among the top 10 teams in the Southland by The Times for most of the season. Both have size and receive contributions from a variety of sources. Both played cat-and-mouse with their first-round opponents before blowing them out in the second half Monday night.

I just like watching one of the best teams from the Southern Section take on one of the best from the City.

I smell overtime and I haven’t even made it in the gymnasium yet.

The Wolves will need better games out of 6-5, 235-pound forward Eric Wise and 6-7 swingman Kawhi Leonard than they received last night. Wise was held to 12 points, about eight below his average, and Leonard put up 17, but most came during garbage time.

The Comets, well, they just need to play like they’ve been here before, and they have, many times.

--Dan Arritt