Boys’ basketball: Harvard-Westlake wins title

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North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake gave Coach Greg Hilliard his eighth Southern Section title in 24 seasons as coach, knocking off Cerritos Gahr, 87-75, in the Division III-A final at the Honda Center. It means the Wolverines won boys’ and girls’ titles this weekend.

Erik Swoope, a 6-foot-5 junior, had a terrific game for the Wolverines (26-6), scoring 20 points, putting down five dunks and making nine of 11 shots with five blocked shots.

But it was Harvard-Westlake’s bench that came through big time in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines fell behind, 63-60, then went on a 14-1 spurt to take a 74-64 lead with 3:16 left, with Nick Firestone and Chris Barnum each connecting from three-point range.

Give credit to Hilliard, who used nine players and stuck with his strategy of relying on his bench during key moments.

And how about the play of Firestone, a sophomore guard who had two assists, a three-pointer and a steal during the Wolverines’ fourth-quarter resurgence? Firestone finished with eight points and four assists.

Austin Kelly had 17 points and Nate Bullock 13 points for Harvard-Westlake. Devin Golston and Gipson Lyles had 17 points apiece for Gahr (18-15).

-- Eric Sondheimer