For the second consecutive year No. 6
Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) will be playing for a state championship in California. The Wolverines came from behind Tuesday night to top No. 13
Roosevelt (Eastvale) 63-59, punching their ticket to Saturday's CIF Open Division title game in Sacramento.
Tuesday was the second meeting between Harvard-Westlake and Roosevelt in the last three weeks with the Wolverines also winning that one 54-47 Southern Section Open Division final Feb. 23.
McDonald's All-American
Trent Perry led the winners with 28 points, helping erase a 12-point deficit in the third quarter. Fresh off a 42-point performance in the regional semifinals, Perry gave Harvard-Westlake its first lead of the second half at 47-46 with under six minutes to play.
After taking the lead, Perry pulled down a defensive rebound, threw a cross-court pass to senior Harvard pledge
Robert Hinton, who got fouled and got to the line. Hinton finished with 16 points.
Sophomore
Jackson Haggins nailed a 3-pointer to tie it up for Roosevelt. Perry then drove hard to the hoop and converted as he was fouled. He made the free throw to give Harvard-Westlake a 52-49 lead with 3:43 to play.
Harvard-Westlake extended the lead to 54-50 before Roosevelt five-star junior
Brayden Burries hit a 3-pointer with 2:15 to play to cut the deficit to a single point.
Roosevelt got a stop and Burries went to the rim on the offensive end, dunking the ball to give the Mustangs the lead.
The Wolverines answered as four-star junior
Nikolas Khamenia got creative and hit a mid-range shot to give Harvard-Westlake a 56-55 lead with 1:12 to play. That closed out a 13-point second half for the 6-foot-8 forward, who has offers that include Gonzaga, Illinois and Kansas.
On the next possession, Hinton intercepted a Roosevelt pass and got the ball to Perry, who again made a shot at the basket and earned another trip to the line to give Harvard-Westlake a 59-55 lead with 33 seconds remaining to put the game away.
Roosevelt built a 21-10 advantage in the second quarter after going on an 11-0 run capped by a Burries 3-pointer. He finished with 24 points.
Harvard-Westlake cut the lead to 30-25 late in first half before Roosevelt scored the final five points of the frame, taking a 35-25 advantage into halftime.
After Roosevelt scored the first basket of the second half, Harvard-Westlake launched its run to the state title game.
The Wolverines will play to defend their state crown Saturday at 8 p.m. at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Harvard-Westlake senior Trent Perry helped lead the Wolverines to a 63-59 victory over Roosevelt after scoring 28 points. Harvard-Westlake moves on to the 2024 CIF Open Division State title game on Saturday. (File photo: Louis Lopez)
