Wolverines headed to Sacramento after surprisingly lopsided victory over defending state champions.
No. 14
Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) upset No. 4
Centennial (Corona) 80-61 on Tuesday night to earn a spot in California's Open Division state championship game Saturday at Golden 1 Center against
St. Joseph (Santa Maria).
With the victory in the regional final, Harvard-Westlake (32-2) ended Centennial’s 51-game win streak against California teams dating back to 2021.
Led by head coach David Rebibo, who helped lead Harvard-Westlake to the 2016 state title, the Wolverines roared out to a 16-7 lead behind nine points from four-star junior
Trent Perry.
Centennial (30-4) senior
Jared McCain — a McDonald’s All American headed to Duke — scored five baskets and cut the lead down to 28-24.
Harvard-Westlake got on a hot streak led by sophomore
Nikolas Khamenia and three-star senior
Brady Dunlap and took a 41-31 lead into halftime.
Centennial seniors
Devin Williams (UCLA) and
Aaron McBride (LMU) each scored to start the second half and cut the lead down to 45-39 but Harvard-Westlake quickly hit a three from Perry to put the lead back up to 48-39.
The scoring continued as Dunlap and Khamenia each hit baskets and Harvard-Westlake took a 59-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
Harvard-Westlake kept the scoring pace in the final frame to run away with a surprising 19-point victory.
Harvard-Westlake junior Trent Perry and senior Jacob Huggins are headed to the CIF Open Division finals after a Open Division win over Centennial. (Photo: Samuel Mawanda)
