Prep basketball roundup: Westchester survives rally to beat Brentwood
Westchester started the boys’ high school basketball season with losses to Chatsworth, Crespi and Harvard-Westlake. The Comets, filled with transfer students, took out their frustration on unbeaten Brentwood on Tuesday night in the Redondo Union tournament, only to come within seconds of losing.
With Tajh Ariza leading the way, Westchester built a 21-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Brentwood came back behind Shane Frazier, who made four threes in the quarter. The Eagles twice had the ball in the final seconds with a chance to take the lead before the Comets finally prevailed 74-72.
“We have to finish off games,” said Ariza, who finished with 21 points and is the son of former Westchester and NBA player Trevor Ariza.
Brentwood (7-1) received 21 points from AJ Okoh and 18 points from Frazier. The Eagles outscored Westchester 24-6 in the fourth quarter.
City Section basketball’s top player, Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth, was listed as a junior before it was announced he’d be part of the Class of 2025.
Brentwood got the ball back with 8.8 seconds left after Ariza missed two free throws but could not pull out the victory. It was a tough night for Gold Coast League teams, as the Eagles, Viewpoint and Windward all were beaten.
Ty Ingram helped Westchester (1-3) with 17 points.
Harvard-Westlake 67, San Gabriel Academy 48: It was a bit of a struggle in the second half for the Wolverines (5-0) after building a 20-point halftime lead. Joe Sterling finished with 21 points and Nikolas Khamenia had 19. Sophomore Mahamadou Diop had 16 points for San Gabriel, which has lost to the Wolverines, Sierra Canyon and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
Long Beach Poly 62, Windward 60: The Jackrabbits continue to play a tough schedule and came away victorious behind Jovani Ruff, who had 13 points. JJ Harris scored 23 points for Windward.
Redondo Union 97, Oak Park 39: Brayden Miner, the son of former USC star and NBA dunk champion Harold Miner, scored 27 points for Redondo (4-0).
Leuzinger 55, Crean Lutheran 51: Arnez Reynolds had 15 points for Crean Lutheran (3-1).
Loyola 87, Hacienda Heights Wilson 35: Tyson Powell made four threes to finish with 12 points for the Cubs.
Crescenta Valley 90, University Prep Value 21: Vaughn Zargarian had 38 points for Crescenta Valley.
Damien 83, Orange Vista 63: Eli Garner had 27 points and Nate Garcia 23 for Damien.
JSerra 66, La Jolla Country Day 44: BJ Davis-Ray had 17 points for the Lions.
Moorpark 64, South Hills 51: Sophomore Levi Oaks had 27 points and freshman Logan Stotts added 13 points for Moorpark.
Campbell Hall 89, Venice 56: The Vikings (4-0) received 29 points from Isaiah Johnson and 22 points from James Bass.
Murrieta Valley 72, Sun Valley Poly 70: JD Wyatt had 28 points in his season debut for Poly.
St. Francis 67, Lake Stevens (Wash.) 58: Freshman Luke Paulus scored 21 points and Noah Henry had 20 points and 10 rebounds for St. Francis.
Jonas Thurman scored 48 points in Chaminade’s win over Calabasas.
Chaminade 54, Santa Monica 53: Koby Nichols led the way for the Eagles (8-0) with 14 points.
Canyon 63, Saugus 51: Max Guardado led Saugus with 22 points.
Shalhevet 70, Viewpoint 69: A 31-point outburst from Aiden Bitran lifted Shalhevet to the win in double overtime.
Mater Dei 71, San Juan Hills 55: Luke Barnett scored 22 points to help coach Gary McKnight become the second-winningest coach of all time.
Inglewood 95, St. Bernard 93: Jason Crowe Jr., cleared by the Southern Section to play, scored 43 points in Inglewood’s overtime victory. Caleb Versher had 25 points and Joshua Palmer 23 for St. Bernard. Each first-year coach returned to his alma mater, Jason Crowe Sr. at Inglewood and Bernard McCrumby at St. Bernard.
Girls’ basketball
Mater Dei 80, King 22: Kaeli Wynn had 21 points and 10 assists for Mater Dei (5-0).
Redondo Union 38, Harvard-Westlake 32: Chloe Choy led Redondo with 13 points.
Hart 65, Valencia 35: Morgan Mack finished with 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for Hart.
Bishop Montgomery 67, Brentwood 57: Jordin Blackmon led Bishop Montgomery with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Lev Feiman and Payton Sugar each scored 16 points for Brentwood.
Birmingham 62, Mira Costa 52: The Patriots won the Gold Division championship of the Battle of the Beach. Camille Newton had 17 points. Tournament MVP Lili Martinez had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
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