Boys basketball: Taft coach gives opinion on Westchester-King

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Taft Coach Derrick Taylor has now played Westchester and Riverside King and should know who’s going to win Saturday’s 8 p.m. Division I Southern California Regional final at Pauley Pavilion, right?

‘What a great game it’s going to be,’ Taylor said. ‘It will come down to which team shoots better. They are mirror images of each other.’

The difference could be how well Westchester deals with King’s 6-foot-7 Kawhi Leonard.

‘I don’t know if they have an answer for Leonard,’ he said. ‘He is an athletic freak. He looks like he’s playing on Red Bull. His athleticism is through the roof.’

Taft led King by 13 points at halftime Thursday before losing by 10. Taylor wasn’t going to attend Saturday’s regional final, but he has changed his mind.

‘I’m intrigued,’ he said of the matchup.

-- Eric Sondheimer