Harvard-Westlake beats Pius X-St. Matthias in basketball

Prep basketball roundup: Harvard-Westlake holds off Pius X-St. Matthias in thriller

Robert Hinton of Harvard-Westlake battles with Douglas Langford of St. Pius X-St. Matthias.

Columnist

Dec. 6, 2023 9:01 PM PT

Donte Archie made the call to David Rebibo asking if his St. Pius X-St. Matthias boys’ basketball team could schedule a nonleague game against Harvard-Westlake, the defending state champion. Rebibo, the Wolverines’ coach, said yes. Teams weren’t exactly flooding his phone with requests.

Wednesday’s game at Harvard-Westlake turned out to be one of the best of the early season and provided immediate feedback for both teams.

The Wolverines (8-0) barely held on, 72-71, when St. Pius X-St. Matthias’ Tyrone Riley missed on a 17-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Archie was thrilled anyway. His Warriors (2-1), the defending 3AA champions, had proven they’re a top team after threatening perhaps the No. 1 team in the state.

“Resilience, fight, toughness,” the coach said of what he saw from his players. “I have nothing bad to say.”

David Mack, an All-City guard last season for Fairfax, scored 19 points for the Warriors before fouling out with a little more than three minutes left.

“We had a lot of trouble with him,” Rebibo said. “We had trouble staying in front of the ball.”

Harvard-Westlake opened a 19-point lead in the second quarter, but Mack became like a troublesome gnat in the third quarter, drawing fouls and scoring 12 points to lead a comeback.

Trent Perry finished with 20 points for Harvard-Westlake and Robert Hinton 17. The Wolverines also got contributions from Dominic Bentho and Isaiah Carroll. Tariq Bridges made four threes for the Warriors. Dayvon Gates had 12 points and Douglas Langford 11.

Rebibo was not pleased with his team’s effort.

David Mack, who scored 19 points for St. Pius X-St. Matthias, goes against Harvard-Westlake's Trent Perry.

“Credit to them,” he said. “They competed, they played hard. We tried to play one-on-one the whole game. I was disappointed in our effort and our execution.”

Etiwanda 76, Los Alamitos 56: The Eagles (7-0) had all five starters score in double figures to stay unbeaten. Stanley Thomas led the way with 17 points.

Sierra Canyon 88, Crossroads 48: Noah Williams scored 23 points and Justin Pippen 20 points in the Beverly Hills tournament victory.

St. John Bosco 78, Fairmont Prep 34: The Braves stayed unbeaten and will meet La Mirada in the semifinals of their own tournament. Elzie Harrington had 12 assists and Kade Bonam scored 20 points.

La Mirada 74, Hesperia 54: La Mirada advances to the semifinals of the St. John Bosco tournament. Freshman Gene Roebuck scored 27 points for La Mirada.

Windward 60, Rancho Cucamonga 56: Jeremiah Hampton scored 21 points for Windward, which advances to the St. John Bosco tournament semifinals. Aaron Glass scored 25 points for Rancho Cucamonga.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 81, Campbell Hall 60: Mercy Miller finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Knights.

JSerra 60, Cactus 41: Aidan Fowler scored 15 points for the 9-0 Lions.

Mater Dei 89, Capistrano Valley Christian 61: Brannon Martinsen scored 21 points and Blake Davidson and Scotty Belnap added 19 points each for 5-0 Mater Dei.

Heritage Christian 79, Sage Hill 42: Tae Simmons had 16 points for Heritage Christian.

Royal 66, Chadwick 51: The Highlanders improved to 9-2. Ace Arnold scored 31 points.

LACES 45, Fairfax 35: In a Western League game, Donovan Cornelius scored 13 points and Ryan Conner 11 for LACES, which defeated Fairfax for the first time in school history.

Westchester 59, Hamilton 36: Kevin Lemle scored 12 points for Westchester.

Crespi 77, El Camino Real 36: The Celts (9-1) received 22 points from Joe Sterling and 15 from Carter Barnes.

Yorba Linda 47, Calabasas 38: The Coyotes (7-1) suffered their first defeat. Freshman Grayson Coleman scored 20 points for Calabasas.