Westchester Gets 4-A Boys’ Title

It was only fitting that Westchester High defeated Crenshaw, 87-71, Friday night for its second consecutive City 4-A Division boys’ basketball title.

Westchester became the first team, other than Crenshaw, to win back-to-back City major division titles since Fremont’s 1962 and 1963 championships.

Westchester (27-2) has been the City’s top team all season and will move on to the Southern Regional of the State Division I playoffs.

Senior guard James Gray led the way for Westchester with 27 points and 16 rebounds before an estimated Sports Arena crowd of 7,000.

“We had a lot of pressure on us to win, but we came in here and played like champions,” Gray said. “A lot of teams drop from being No. 1 in their last game, but we played hard and played like a team.”

Westchester took command early with its pressure defense that forced Crenshaw into six first-quarter turnovers as the Comets took a 23-13 lead.

The pace slowed in the second quarter and Alexous Scruggs’ 10 points helped Crenshaw take a 30-29 lead with three minutes remaining in the half. But Westchester rallied behind Gray’s 13 first-half points to take a 39-37 lead.

“In the first half we were defeating ourselves,” Gray said. “We made mistakes and fell apart. Then, in the second half, we concentrated more and things came together. And they couldn’t stop me in the post.”

The game’s tempo did not pick up in the third quarter, but what has made Westchester the City’s top team this season has been its versatility.

With the Comets’ half-court offense being featured, 6-foot-5 Lorenzo Ball stepped up with nine third-quarter points as Westchester increased its lead to 59-53. Ball finished with 23 points.

In the fourth quarter, Westchester’s depth proved to be too much for Crenshaw as the Comets slowly pulled away.

“Basically we did what we wanted to do, but we broke down on defense, which led to a lot of layups for them in the fourth quarter,” said Crenshaw Coach Willie West, whose teams has won 11 City titles. “We were playing on emotion and in the fourth quarter that caught up with us against a great team.”

This was the second time that Crenshaw and Westchester met in the City finals. In 1984, Crenshaw crushed the Comets, 112-59, behind John Williams in the most lopsided championship game in City history.

Crenshaw’s leading scorer was Curtis Galbert, who had 21 points. Everett Barrow added 17 points.

Now Crenshaw will have to wait to see if it receives an at-large bid for the State playoffs.

Two years ago, Crenshaw--which has the most State titles with four--was snubbed after losing to Manual Arts in the City final despite being the defending state champion.

With a 19-5 record, Crenshaw will have to hope that the City’s record of seven Southern Regional titles in 10 years has some impact when the at-large berths are decided.