Westchester Defeats Manual Arts

Westchester High’s basketball team is nicknamed the Comets, a fitting moniker for a squad that features point guard Brandon Granville.

As he has done throughout this season, Granville blazed up and down the court with style and composure Friday night against Manual Arts in the City Section 4-A championship game.

And it was Granville who keyed an 18-0 third-quarter run that paced Westchester to a 78-62 victory before 5,000 at the Sports Arena.

Granville, who transferred to Westchester from Playa del Rey St. Bernard, helped turn the Comets’ 34-33 lead into a 52-33 advantage with 2:30 left in the third quarter.

Manual Arts fought back valiantly, but never got to within less than six points in suffering their third loss to the Comets.

Westchester (26-3), ranked second in the state, was making its second consecutive appearance in the 4-A final. Last year, the Comets lost to Crenshaw, 87-70.

Westchester and Manual Arts will compete in the eight-team Southern California regional of the state tournament on Tuesday. The winner of the regional advances to the finals March 20-21 at Sacramento.