Dominguez Gets a Lift From Reserves

Quinton Watkins and Alfonso Peterson combined for 23 points off the bench to help top-seeded Compton Dominguez win its second consecutive Southern Section title and eighth in the last 10 years with a 57-51 victory over Pasadena in the Division II-AA final Saturday at the Arrowhead Pond.

Watkins, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard who transferred from Bellflower St. John Bosco, had a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. Peterson, a 6-4, 235-pound center, scored his eight points after third-seeded Pasadena rallied to take a four-point lead midway through the third quarter.

Their efforts offset a poor shooting performance by Louisville-bound senior Bryan Harvey, a 6-5 shooting guard who led the Dons (24-5) to the Division II state title last season. He made only four of 13 shots, missing all four three-point attempts, and finished with 14 points.

Harvey didn’t let his shooting woes affect his concentration at the free-throw line, however. He made all four of his attempts in the final 16 seconds to hold off the Bulldogs (27-3), who had crept to within two points in the final minute.

Kyle Austin scored 19 points and Artis Gant had 13, combining to make 11 of 15 shots for Pasadena, but the rest of the team made only four of 23 from the field.

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Etiwanda 60, Newhall Hart 45 -- The top-seeded Eagles overcame a strong start by unseeded Hart and pulled away at the Pond to win the Division I-AA title, the first in school history.

Etiwanda (30-1) fell behind by 10 points three times in the first half before closing the second quarter with a 10-0 run to tie the score, 23-23. Etiwanda then outscored the Indians, 17-2, over the first seven minutes of the third quarter and held a 43-31 lead heading into the fourth. The Indians never got closer than seven down the stretch.

Jeff Pendergraph scored 18 points for Etiwanda, including nine in the fourth quarter, and collected 10 rebounds.

Ryan Wolfe had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Hart (19-13), which began the playoffs as a wild-card team after finishing third in the Foothill League.

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Santa Ana Mater Dei 85, Ontario Colony 51 -- Mike Gerrity broke the Orange County all-time record for assists, Taylor King tied a school record with 20 rebounds and the top-seeded Monarchs (28-3) equaled a Southern Section record with their 18th title in the Division II-A final at the Pond.

Gerrity, a senior point guard, had 20 points and seven assists to break the county record of 804 set by Jimmy Harris of Huntington Beach Ocean View, currently the Seahawks’ co-coach.

King, a sophomore forward, equaled his playoff average with 27 points and tied the year-old school record for rebounds in a game, set by Rashad Austin, currently a senior at Etiwanda.

Mater Dei’s title tied the section record held by Long Beach Poly, which won its 18th last season in the Division I-AA final.

Sixth-seeded Colony finished 27-6.

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Santa Margarita 50, Lakewood Artesia 38 -- The Eagles held top-seeded Artesia without a point over the final 4:53, allowing them to win their second consecutive Division III-AA title.

James Keefe, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds, helping second-seeded Santa Margarita (26-4) earn a 37-21 edge in rebounding.

James Harden scored 15 points, the only player in double figures for Artesia (26-4), which missed its final eight shots from the field.

-- Dan Arritt

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North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake 67, Oak Park 52 -- The top-seeded Wolverines (25-3) connected on eight of 14 three-point attempts in the first half and cruised to their fourth consecutive Division III-A championship at the Pond.

The victory gave Coach Greg Hilliard his seventh section title in 11 seasons.

Ed White, a four-year starter who joined Marcus Palmer of Los Angeles Price as a rare four-time section champion, finished with 16 points, along with teammate Kieran Ramsey. Blake Wildt led Oak Park (19-10) with 16 points.

-- Eric Sondheimer