High school basketball: No. 4 Centennial, No. 14 Harvard-Westlake each win, will face off in CIF Southern California Open Division regional final

After Saturday night wins, No. 4 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) and No. 14 Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) will face off in the CIF Open Division Southern Regional finals on Tuesday with a trip to the state championship game against either Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.) or St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) on the line.

The two schools will face off for the first time since the 2022 CIF Southern Section Open Division finals when Centennial won 68-48.

The Huskies (30-3) took down St. Augustine (San Diego) 89-67 while Harvard-Westlake beat St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) 69-64.

Centennial won the Southern Section Open Division while St. Augustine (28-5) won the San Diego Section Open Division and the teams started the game by trading baskets. The Huskies quickly went on an 11-1 run and took a 20-8 lead into the second quarter. Centennial was up 49-30 by halftime behind 17 halftime points from senior McDonald’s All- American Jared McCain and 15 from senior Mike Price, who finished with 24.

Centennial extended the lead to 31 heading into the fourth before the 22-point victory.

Harvard-Westlake (31-2) got off to a hot start in the first quarter and jumped to a 17-10 lead. By halftime, the Wolverines led 37-29 as Brady Dunlap poured in 11. St. John Bosco (26-7) five-star sophomore Elzie Harrington had 10 halftime points.

The second half started with Harvard-Westlake junior Christian Horry — son of seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry — knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to give the Wolverines a 44-35 lead.

Heading into the fourth, Harvard-Westlake held a 51-44 lead but St. John Bosco cut the lead to 62-60 with 1:29 left after Harrington knocked down a pair of free throws.

Sophomore Nikolas Khamenia then got fouled and knocked down both free throws to give Harvard-Westlake a four-point lead, which was enough for the 69-64 win.