Westchester, Crenshaw Will Meet in Final
Westchester Coach Ed Azzam never tires of playing Fairfax.
Azzam knows that more often than not, games between the teams are in doubt until the final minutes.
That was the case Saturday as second-seeded Westchester beat third-seeded Fairfax, 55-52, in the City Championship Division playoff semifinals at Los Angeles Southwest College.
Westchester (23-6) will play Crenshaw, an 82-54 winner Saturday night over Fremont, for the City title Friday night at the Great Western Forum.
“[Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani] always has his teams ready to play,” Azzam said. “I never get tired of playing against them.”
Westchester, winner of the 1998 City and State Division I titles, won three of four games against Fairfax this season. The Comets won by two points in a tournament in Las Vegas in December. The teams split their Western League meetings when they played twice in three days in January.
Saturday’s game was not decided until Fairfax guard Jason Morrissette put up a desperation shot from half court that didn’t hit the rim.
Westchester made big free throws and a critical defensive play in the final seconds.
After Scottie Stern pulled Fairfax to within 53-52 with his fourth three-pointer, Westchester’s Jason Breland made one of two free throws for a 54-52 lead with 6.2 seconds left.
Knowing that Fairfax needed to move the ball toward its basket quickly, Azzam had four players parked beyond half court.
Westchester guard Ashanti Cook intercepted a long inbounds pass and was fouled. He added a free throw for the final margin.
“We didn’t want to let the ball get downcourt like we did the first time,” said Cook, referring to Stern’s three-pointer. “They just threw it down and I saw it coming. I felt like a football player on that play.”
Said Azzam: “The guys were jogging back after the free throw and we let Scottie hit that three. The next time, I just gave our kids a head start by putting them back there.”
Breland finished with a game-high 20 points. But it was an ensemble effort for the Comets, particularly during a seesaw fourth quarter.
Reserve Jason McKinney scored six of his eight points in the quarter. Cedric Thompkins had three free throws and grabbed three of his team-high nine rebounds. Cook made a 15-footer to give the Comets the lead for good with 4:55 remaining.
Fairfax guard Ishmael Torres scored on two drives that helped give the Lions an early 9-1 lead.
Breland brought Westchester back, scoring 13 points in the first half. His three-point shot at the buzzer gave the Comets a 26-22 lead at halftime.
“He has the ability to dominate a game, but this was one of the few times that he’s done that,” Azzam said. “I think he’s the most athletic player in the City.
“He just doesn’t show it all the time.”
Stern had a team-high 14 points for Fairfax. Morrissette added 12.
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Crenshaw 82, Fremont 54--Top-seeded Crenshaw (21-2) relied on its defense to earn another appearance in the City Section championship game.
Crenshaw didn’t shoot well from the perimeter, particularly in the first half. But behind 6-foot-7 Chris Davis, the Cougars got their hands on rebounds and put back in a number of missed shots.
Davis did most of his damage in the first half with 12 points. He finished with 14.
The Cougars also made things tough for Fremont junior guard Kenton Paulino. Paulino, who had 44 points against Crenshaw in an earlier meeting, finished with 21.
But he scored 11 in the fourth quarter when the Pathfinders were behind by 22 points.
Tommy Johnson scored 22 points for Crenshaw.
Marcus Williams added 14 points and Taylor Parsons had 10 for the Cougars.
Mark Bradford finished with 15 points for Fremont, which ended its season at 18-10.
Santa Monica Crossroads 63, Milken Community 62--Felipe Williams scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half, including two free throws with 8.6 seconds left that gave Crossroads a four-point lead in the Southern Section IV-A semifinal at St. Genevieve.
Alex Raminfar of Milken scored 19 points and Daniel Greenberg 17 for Milken, which led by 11 points at halftime.