Girls’ basketball: Harvard-Westlake wins the Division 4AA title

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Top-seeded Harvard-Westlake (30-1) just won its second consecutive Southern Section title, this time in Division 4AA.

Seniors Nicole Hung and Nicole Nesbit had 16 points apiece to lift the Wolverines to a 58-54 victory over second-seeded Bishop Montgomery (26-7) on Saturday at Cal State Long Beach.

After trailing by 12 points in the first half, Hung was fouled on a layup and converted the three-point play to give Harvard-Westlake its first lead of the game at 37-36 with 1:55 left in the third quarter. The Wolverines proceeded to outscore Bishop Montgomery 17-10 in the third to take a 43-39 lead into the fourth.

Harvard-Westlake expanded its lead to seven points at the beginning of the fourth, then Bishop Montgomery’s Chelsey Aaron responded by hitting a three-pointer to bring the Knights within 56-52 with 2:33 on the clock.

On the Knights’ next possession, Kristen Ale was fouled on a jumper and made both of her free throws to bring the game to within two points at 56-54 with just under two minutes left in the game.

But Bishop Montgomery’s chance to upset the Wolverines slipped away as Devon Brookshire air-balled her shot attempt with 30 seconds on the clock, and Skylar Tsutsui then converted a layup on the other end.

Ale led Bishop Montgomery with 14 points, Taylor Sansbury had 12 and Brookshire added 10.

-- Melissa Rohlin