STUDIO CITY — On any given night, it can be any given player who steps up for the Harvard-Westlake boys basketball team.
Even when the team’s two leading scorers blank in the first quarter, the Wolverines can still build a double-digit lead, which is what they did Tuesday night against Sierra Canyon in the second game of the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs.
Amir Jones came off the bench to score 10 first-half points and Christian Horry logged nine points in the first half to help lead the Wolverines to a 72-38 win over the Trailblazers.
Horry finished with a game-high 14 points, two rebounds and two assists. Jones had 13 points and a block. Both players made four 3-pointers.
“That’s who they are. Those guys have that capability,” Harvard-Westlake head coach David Rebibo said about Horry and Jones. “I think playing with a really talented team at times can be overwhelming and it can get the best of you, but they just have great character and when the moment came and it was their time, they stepped up. That’s who they are and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Harvard-Westlake made 12 3-pointers as a team, with Nikolas Khamenia making two, Trent Perry making one and Isaiah Carroll making one.
While the Wolverines’ offense was firing on all cylinders, the defense was just as crucial, holding Sierra Canyon to a season-low 38 points.
Rebibo said that the makeup of this team is built on “toughness, discipline and defense,” a sentiment his players repeated.
“The last time we played them we thought we got out-toughed, so the goal was for that not to happen again,” Jones said. “We made sure we rebounded, boxed out, guarded the ball and played with heart, because that’s who we are at the end of the day.”
Perry, who was held to three points in the first half, came alive in the second half offensively, finishing with 11 points. He added 10 rebounds and 10 assists to complete the triple-double.
Khamenia finished with 12 points,…
Read the full article here
