BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Servite Bit by Bad Draw, Westchester Wins

Servite Coach Scott Hamilton wasn’t thrilled that his team had to play Westchester in the first round of the Tournament of Champions boys’ basketball tournament.

And as expected, the Comets beat Servite, 58-47, Monday at Ocean View High School.

Danny Walker had 18 points and Ben Sanders 11 for Westchester (3-0), which was ranked second in the Division I preseason poll.

But at least Hamilton was pragmatic about the draw.

“This will be a good test for us,” Hamilton said before the game.

It turned out to be a good test for Westchester, which was never able to put away Servite.

Mark Seaton, a 6-9 center who has signed with Stanford, led Servite with 16 points and 14 rebounds. David Downs added 12 and Sean Rawson had 11, including three three-pointers to help keep the Friars close.

Servite even took the lead in the second quarter on a dunk by Seaton with 5:15 remaining. It put Westchester down, 15-14, but grabbed the Comets’ attention.

Westchester’s pressure defense forced 10 Servite turnovers in the second quarter.

The Comets used full-court pressure and trapping defenses to offset Servite’s height advantage. They finished the second quarter by outscoring the Friars, 15-2.

With three seconds left in the half, Walker was fouled while he made a fadeaway 17-foot jumper over Rawson and he added the free throw to make it 29-17.

Servite scored six consecutive points to make it 37-32 after a dunk by Seaton and driving layup by Rawson, but Walker ended the run with a three-pointer. Walker’s two free throws with 1 minute 24 seconds remaining gave Westchester a 55-42 lead.

In other first-round games:

Mater Dei 78, Palos Verdes Peninsula 54--Shaun Jackson had 26 points and eight rebounds and Schea Cotton added 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Mater Dei (3-0).

Ocean View 76, Brentwood 61--Dan McDonald, a senior forward, scored 44 points and had 12 rebounds, for host Ocean View (4-3). McDonald’s biggest quarters were the second (12 points) and the fourth (16 points). He made 10 of 14 free throws and was 12 of 17 from the field.

Newport Harbor 57, Manual Arts 53--Ian Stratford scored 12 points and Wes Badorek and Will Rankin each added 10 points to lead Newport Harbor (4-3).