Two Wins Give Harvard-Westlake More Believers

After Harvard-Westlake High won its first two games by 46 and 14 points, word around the Best in the West tournament was that the Wolverines simply hadn’t been tested.

But with an impressive 71-52 victory over Serra in Friday night’s quarterfinal at Long Beach City College, the Wolverines sent word that they are the team to beat.

“Who else could it be?” said Centennial Coach Ronnie Austin, whose team lost to Harvard-Westlake, 74-60, earlier in the day. “Those guys are good, man. They have everything.”

Harvard-Westlake will play Westchester tonight at 7 p.m. in the semifinals.

Second-seeded Harvard-Westlake (13-1) gained favorite status after top-seeded Dominguez lost to Compton, 57-56, moments before the Wolverines played Serra. Compton meets Artesia in the other semifinal.

“So far, thank goodness we haven’t been tested,” Harvard-Westlake Coach Greg Hilliard said before the game. “But we know its going to happen. As a coach, I’m just going to enjoy winning by large margins.”

He had plenty to enjoy against Serra.

Jarron Collins had dunks on back-to-back possessions early in the first quarter and the Wolverines led, 12-2, two minutes into the game. Collins scored 14 of his 27 points in the first quarter.

Jason Collins had six of his 15 points in the second quarter as the Wolverines forged a 47-22 halftime lead. The lead increased to 65-35 before Hilliard pulled his starters late in the third quarter.

Earlier in the day, Jason Collins scored 29 points, including the first 12 Wolverine points, as Harvard-Westlake defeated Centennial, 74-60, in the second round.

Jarron Collins had 20 points, 10 of which came on dunks. The 6-foot-10 Jason and 6-9 Jarron dwarfed the Apaches, whose tallest player is 6-4. The Collins twins scored 32 points from inside the lane and 13 from the free-throw line.

Antelope Valley 51, Burbank 48--The Antelopes (7-5) led by 14 points in the third quarter, but Burbank made four three-point shots in the fourth quarter to narrow the gap in a second-round consolation game at the Lakewood YMCA.

Antelope Valley went ahead, 27-24, on a three-point basket by Tony Walker with 1:24 left in the first half, and led the rest of the way.

Ziare Williams scored 24 points for Antelope Valley and Le’Tre Kelly added 14.

Troy Eckles scored 12 points for Burbank, all on three-points baskets. Juni Williams scored 11 points in the first quarter before leaving with a sprained ankle.

Long Beach Millikan 39, Burbank 35--The Bulldogs (6-6) missed three free throws in the final minute of a third-round consolation game.

Canoga Park 80, Venice 71--David Redmond scored 13 of his 26 points in the third quarter as the Hunters turned a 39-36 halftime deficit into a 58-49 lead after three quarters in a consolation game at the Lakewood YMCA.

Carloes Harper scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half. Pat Forzoneh had 19 points for the Hunters, who will play Bakersfield today at 9:30 a.m. at the Lakewood YMCA.

Pasadena 69, Bell-Jeff 65--The Bulldogs (7-7) went on a 12-5 run midway through the fourth quarter to pull away from the Guards (6-5) in a consolation game. Guard center Mike West fouled out with 3:55 to play, and the Bulldogs took advantage, scoring all 12 of their points during that run on inside baskets.

Ruben Douglas scored 34 points for the Guards and Kent Dennis had 17.

Earlier, the Guards lost to Washington, 67-57, at the Lakewood YMCA.