Wolverines Take Care of Business

Ho-hum. Harvard-Westlake won another Southern Section boys’ basketball title.

That was the demeanor of the state’s top-ranked Wolverines after beating Morningside, 84-64, Thursday night in a Division III-A final at the Bren Events Center before 931 at UC Irvine.

Shake hands, put on your new “CIF Champs 1997” T-shirts and thank the folks for coming. No piles at mid-court. No teary eyes. No “we did it, man” exultations.

After winning three consecutive section titles, what else could it be but business as usual?

“This is great and all but we’ve been here before and our goal is to get back to [the state final],” said Wolverine guard Rico Cabrera, who scored a team-high 22 points, including 16 in the first half.

Harvard-Westlake (32-1), which won its first three playoff games by an average of 43 points, was never threatened.

Six-foot-10 twins Jason and Jarron Collins were double-teamed often and the Monarchs rarely gave either of them a clear shot under the basket. Three Monarchs, including two starters, each had four fouls before the start of the fourth quarter.

But each of the twins grabbed 13 rebounds and combined for 33 points.

With the Monarchs collapsing often on the twins, the Wolverines went elsewhere and found Cabrera and Ryan Smiley, who finished with 15 points.

Morningside (22-6), which had won 18 straight before facing Harvard-Westlake, had three players in double figures but shot only 34% from floor. The Wolverines shot 56%.

Lee Denmon led the Monarchs with 22 points. Jonathan Hubbard had 19 and Joe Myers added 12.

The Wolverines, who beat Morningside, 75-53, in last year’s championship game, started out a little shaky, missing seven consecutive shots after Cabrera made a three-point shot on the game’s opening possession.

Morningside was stingy and tough in the paint in the early going and sent the Wolverines to the line seven times in the first quarter. Harvard-Westlake led, 23-10, after the first quarter, making 10 of 14 free throws.

Morningside pulled to within 35-27 before Harvard-Westlake responded with a 13-4 run, including six points from Cabrera, to close out the half for a 48-31 lead at the break.