RIVERSIDE — Even when the shots weren’t falling for the Harvard-Westlake boys basketball team, or its free throws down the stretch, the defensive effort was never in question.
It hasn’t been in question all season.
For the third game in a row in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs, the Wolverines held their opponent to a season low in points.
With the defense holding down the fort, Harvard-Westlake defeated Roosevelt 54-47 Friday night at Cal Baptist University to claim its first CIF-SS Open Division title in program history.
“Toughness, character, they know what our backbone is and our backbone as a program is the defensive end and defensive discipline and just overall discipline,” Harvard-Westlake head coach David Rebibo said. “They believe, they buy into it and the proof is in the pudding.”
The Wolverines uncharacteristically struggled with their shooting in all areas — from the field, 3-point line and free-throw line. They made 36 percent, 23 percent and 68 percent, respectively.
But led by Nikolas Khamenia’s 15 points and Robert Hinton’s 15 points, Harvard-Westlake scored just enough while holding the Mustangs to 30 percent shooting from the field to pull out the victory.
Nikolas Khamenia showcasing his moves in the post pic.twitter.com/9hSIvcivdm
— Dan Lovi (@LoviSports) February 24, 2024
“Today was not one of our best shooting nights, just not one of our nights,” Khamenia said. “But the defensive end took care of it. We rebounded well, we took care of the ball well enough. They only scored 47.”
The Wolverines maintained the lead for the entirety of the game, but the Mustangs made a comeback late in the fourth quarter after Darnez Slater hit a couple of corner 3-pointers.
Roosevelt brought it to within three points, but after Trent Perry missed a pair of free throws, Hinton was fouled on a rebound attempt and he made both free throws to help Harvard-Westlake pull away.
Slater led Roosevelt with 18…
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