Wolverines’ Title Comes With a Kick

With Jason Collins at center, the Harvard-Westlake High basketball team doesn’t lack for a go-to guy.

Nor did the Wolverines have reason to look to anyone other than Collins with the game and season on the line.

Collins, a 6-foot-10 Stanford-bound senior, scored five of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter and Harvard-Westlake pulled away to defeat San Diego University, 47-40, in the Southern California Regional Division III final before 3,612 on Saturday night at Cal State Fullerton.

Harvard-Westlake (35-1) will play for a second consecutive state championship against San Mateo Hillsdale (30-0), a 61-42 winner over Arcata, Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Pond in Anaheim.

Thanks largely to the presence of Collins and 6-9 twin Jarron, Harvard-Westlake easily dispensed of most opponents this season. But again the Wolverines struggled in the second half against University (25-5), which lost to Harvard-Westlake in overtime in last season’s regional final.

The Dons rallied from a 30-18 halftime deficit to pull within 41-40 with three minutes to play on an inside basket by Ron McMillan.

“It got us thinking: ‘What are the plays we call at a time like this?’ ” Harvard-Westlake Coach Greg Hilliard said. “Our offense just needed to be patient and get the ball inside.”

Jason Collins muscled inside against a double team for a basket that ignited a 6-0 run to close the game.

Collins finished with 12 rebounds to place him 13 shy of the state career record of 1,496.

“Down the stretch we just tried to put some offense in motion and go for the high-percentage shot,” Collins said. “It was a tough game, but we knew that coming in. It’s always that way. Everybody wants to beat us. We get everybody’s best.”

Harvard-Westlake, three-time Southern Section champion and ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, started sharp and threatened to blow the game open.

Jarron Collins, who finished with 12 points and five assists, set the tempo with a three-point basket from the top of the key for the game’s first score. The Wolverines quickly extended the margin to 7-2 and so it went.

In the second half, University slowed the tempo and outscored Harvard-Westlake, 14-8, in the third quarter.

“We tried to be more patient in the second half and slow it down,” University Coach Jim Tomey said. “They did a good job holding us off. It just wasn’t to be for us.”

Junior forward Luke Walton scored four of his eight points in the third quarter and senior forward Mac Clark scored five during the Dons’ charge.

However, Walton was scoreless in the fourth quarter, when he missed four three-point shot attempts.