CIF Southern Section basketball finals: No. 5 Centennial beats No. 13 Harvard-Westlake for second straight Open title
By Mitch Stephens
Feb 26, 2022, 11:30pm
Jared McCain, Devin Williams lead the way as Centennial wins 27th straight game with wire-to-wire victory over upset-minded Wolverines; No. 2 Etiwanda girls fights back from 14-point second-half deficit to take down No. 8 Sierra Canyon.
It's championship weekend for Southern Section high school basketball with 10 boys title games scheduled for Friday and 10 more girls games set to tip off Saturday. All 20 contests are slated for a 7 p.m. start.
Donovan Dent added 12 for Centennial (30-1) which won its second straight title. The Huskies led from start-to-finish against the upstart Wolverines, who upset Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 63-60 in the semifinals.
Brady Dunlap had 18 points and
Cameron Thrower 17 for Harvard-Westlake which trailed 20-12 after the first quarter, 35-21 at halftime and 46-35 after three. Thrower scored 15 points in the third quarter, but Centennial had just too much depth and effective work both on the interior and perimeter.
Centennial won its 27th straight game while the Wolverines (24-3) had its 10-game win streak snapped.
Both teams will advance to next week's CIF Southern California regional, as will all the teams in the section finals. Brackets for that tournament will be announced on Sunday.
Another national showdown occurred Saturday on the girls' side with as No. 2
Etiwanda fought back from a 14-point third-quarter deficit to breeze past No. 8
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth), 67-59. The Eagles (28-0) used a 17-2 run to end the game en route to their first Southern Section crown.
Sa'lah Hemingway scored nine of her team-high 22 points in the final 2:30 to help offset 24-points for Sierra Canyon star junior
Juju Watkins, who fouled out with 3:28 remaining.
Sierra Canyon dropped to 26-2.
See the complete schedule below. Check back throughout the weekend for updated scores.
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