Eagles Soar Behind Mitchell

Clarence Mitchell of Chaminade High waited years for the opportunity. On Monday night, he made the most of it.

While Harvard-Westlake was struggling to make layups, Mitchell seemed to convert every shot he attempted. He made all five of his three-point shots and finished with 21 points to lead Chaminade past the Wolverines, 80-71, in a Mission League basketball game at Harvard-Westlake.

First-place Chaminade (18-3, 7-1 in league play), which maintained a one-game lead over Alemany with four games to play, shot 54% from the field in the first half, 57% in the second.

Padding the percentages was Mitchell, a 6-foot-5 senior guard and third-year varsity player who waited his turn on the bench while former Eagles Scott Long, Justin Stewart and Justin Beach made names for themselves.

“He was a victim of some pretty good players for two years,” Coach Jeff Young said.

Harvard-Westlake (12-11, 5-4) fell victim to Mitchell’s sharp-shooting performance. Mitchell was eight of 10 from the field, missing only an 18-foot jumper in the first quarter and an eight-foot jumper in the fourth.

“Clarence Mitchell was key for them tonight,” Coach Greg Hilliard of Harvard-Westlake said. “I haven’t seen him play that outstanding before.”

Mitchell’s three consecutive baskets midway through the third quarter gave Chaminade a 54-46 lead.

While Mitchell was doing a number on the Wolverines from the outside, teammate Scott Borchart was working inside. Borchart finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Cayce Cook added 12 points and had eight assists, and Ryan Arceo had 10 points, all in the first quarter.

Harvard-Westlake made a couple of runs at Chaminade, getting as close as 33-30 late in the second quarter on a Kelechi Obgunamiri putback, but 14 missed shots from five feet or closer in the first half foiled the Wolverines’ effort.

“We missed a lot of layups throughout the game,” Hilliard said. “I don’t know why, maybe trying a little too hard. That’s why we’re 12-11.”

Thanks in part to Russell Lakey’s 24 points, Harvard-Westlake was always within striking distance. The Wolverines trailed, 56-51, after three quarters, but Chaminade made nine of 14 shots in the fourth quarter and led by 12 points early in the quarter.

Eric Geffner had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Alex Holmes had 11 points for Harvard-Westlake.