Alemany Is Left in Denial After Losing to Harvard
The scoreboard behind him beamed the simple, cold truth Thursday night in a final score that read: Harvard-Westlake 62, Alemany 45.
But Alemany sophomore guard Justin Savitt, after a second double-digit loss to the first-place Wolverines in Mission League play, still isn’t convinced Harvard is better.
“I don’t know what it is against this team,” said Savitt, who scored 15 points on five three-point baskets, four in the fourth quarter. “I think we can beat them.”
Balance and team play is what slowly dismantled Alemany.
Harvard’s 6-foot-11 twins, Jason and Jarron Collins, were more subtle than dominant. Jason had eight points, all in the first half, and nine rebounds. Jarron had 13 points and four rebounds.
But the Wolverines (17-2, 7-0 in league play), ranked No. 1 in The Times’ Valley poll, put 10 players in the scoring column and obliterated the Indians (10-11, 3-4) in rebounding, 34-13.
“We’re out here working hard,” Harvard guard Ryan Smiley said. “And when everything’s working together, we’re hard to beat.”
Smiley, a junior, had 18 points, scoring six during a 15-1 run in the second quarter as the Wolverines expanded their lead from three to 14 points. He scored eight of his team’s 12 points in the third quarter.
Harvard made 55% of its shots. With the Collinses on patrol on the defensive end, Alemany made only 27%.
“We thought we could score from the [outside and the inside],” Savitt said. “Just take it to them and play our game.”
But Harvard took it to Alemany with a 12-2 run in the final quarter and led by as many as 26 points. Savitt’s four three-pointersin the final three minutes salvaged some respect for the Indians.
“We seem to beat everybody by 20,” Smiley said. “But somebody steps up every night and we do what it takes to win.”
Alemany, which made eight three-pointers, led three times in the first quarter, the last at 11-10. Harvard led, 14-11, at the end of the quarter and shut down the Indians’ top two scorers.
Adrian Pantoja and Jesus Castillon, who each average more than 14 points, had seven apiece.