Loyola outhustles Harvard-Westlake — and has the bruises to prove it in basketball victory

If they lined up the basketball players from Los Angeles Loyola and North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake on Friday night and everyone looked at their knees, it would be easy to tell which team won.

“Knees, thighs — everywhere,” Loyola’s Julian Harrell said of his nicks and bruises.

Diving for loose balls and fighting for every rebound, Loyola used its hustle and hunger to end Harvard-Westlake’s 18-game win streak with a 71-51 victory before a packed gym at Loyola.

No one was better than the 6-foot-5 Harrell, who scored 14 of his 24 points in the third quarter for the Cubs (19-5, 9-2), ranked No. 1 in Southern Section Division 1A and half a game behind Harvard-Westlake (21-3, 9-1) in the Mission League. Joe Stein added 19 points.

“Julian was Superman for us,” Coach Jamal Adams said.

Loyola’s last defeat came to Harvard-Westlake on Jan. 14, 81-74. In that game, Harvard-Westlake’s 6-8 Zena Edosomwan scored 26 points and 6-7 Damiene Cain had 25 points. This time, the Cubs boxed out the two big men and frustrated them by sending wave after wave of defenders. Edosomwan was limited to two points in the first half and 13 for the game. Cain had seven points.

“I told our guys to fight, fight, fight, and not fight literally but to fight on the backboards,” Adams said. “We’re young and inexperienced, but we’re starting to learn how to win and how to play together.”

The Cubs have become streakbusters. Last week, they ended Etiwanda’s win streak at 21 games. Now they have an eight-game win streak and have forced Harvard-Westlake to win a crucial game at Encino Crespi on Monday if the Wolverines intend to stay in first place.

These two private schools have built up a basketball rivalry that brings out fans en masse. Loyola students showed up more than three hours before game time wearing “Beat Harvard-Westlake” T-shirts.

That was a smart decision, because the last time the teams met, there were so many people trying to fit into the gym that the fire marshal had to intervene. This time, capacity of more than 1,200 was reached an hour before game time, and Loyola closed the gates to its campus.

Teams in the Mission League are going to have to deal with Loyola freshman guard Parker Cartwright, who had 13 points and continues to develop. He was set to leave on a redeye Friday night to watch his brother, a Miles, a freshman at Pennsylvania.

“I don’t think I can sleep after this win,” Cartwright said.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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