The Western League and Los Angeles City Section boys basketball rivalry between Westchester and Fairfax has been hard to top over the last several years.
On Thursday, the two teams might have come up with the topper.
Dwayne Polee, the ultra-talented 6-foot-6 USC-bound junior, who hadn’t done much the entire game took a nice feed from Jordan Mayes and connected on a 7-foot semi-hook in the lane to give Westchester a thrilling 55-54 CIF Southern Region Division I semifinal win over Fairfax before a jammed L.A. Southwest College.
Westchester's Dwayne Polee made game-winning shot.
File photo by Nicholas Koza
Fairfax, coming off a decisive road win over previous national No. 1 Mater Dei, is No. 17 in the national MaxPreps/National Guard computer-based rankings and Westchester No. 3.
Westchester coach Ed Azzam teased Polee after the game but then praised him for his tough game-winner: “He makes one play the whole game and it’s the biggest play of the game,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s a tough shot from six, seven feet.”
Dominique O’Connor and Mayes had 12 points each, and Polee 10 for the winners (33-2), while McDonald’s All-American Renardo Sidney added 23 and Solomon Hill had 19 for Fairfax (27-5).
Sidney had a turnover right before Polee’s game winning shot and had a very tough week off the court as well. See story.
This classic match-up was the headliner for 20 California semifinal regional boys games. Here is a quick glance at all 20 games with the schedule for Saturday’s 10 championship games to determine the 10 state finalist.
The state championships are March 20-21 at Arco Arena in Sacramento.
See official brackets for boys and girls.
MORE DIVISION I
Southern California
King-Riverside 58, Taft-Los Angeles 48: Down by 13 at halftime, No. 2 nationally King went on a 37-14 run the rest of the way to win going away. Chris Harriel scored all 22 of his points in the final 12 minutes to lead the way. Kawhi Leonard added 19 points for the winners, who made 14 of 21 shots in the second half. Terran Carter and Justin Hawkins combined for 27 points for Taft. See story.
Saturday’s championship
No. 1 King (30-2) vs. No. 2 Westchester (33-2), Pauley Pavilion, 8 p.m.
Northern California
McClymonds 58, Newark Memorial 33: At Cal State East Bay, Newark Memorial, which ended nationally-ranked De La Salle’s season last week, were no match for the defending state champion as Justin Standley, Quincy Hill and Damon Powell combined for 36 points in an easy win. Newark (27-6) made just two of 13 shots and had eight turnovers in the first quarter and really never recovered.
Monte Vista 63, Folsom 42: At St. Mary’s College, the second-seeded Mustangs (28-3) were nearly flawless after the first quarter and utilized a 23-2 run starting midway through the second quarter to snap Folsom’s 29-game win streak. Brian Barbour had 21 points and Tyerelle Phillips 18 for Monte Vista, which handed Folsom’s only other defeat this year. Sophomore Kori Babineaux had 12 points for Folsom (31-2), however leading scorer Tony Johnson was held to nine, all in the final 12 minutes when the game was essentially decided. See story.
Saturday’s championship
No. 1 McClymonds (28-1) vs. No. 2 Monte Vista (28-3), Arco Arena, 8 p.m.
DIVISION II
Southern California
Loyola 57, Thousand Oaks 52: Carl Huffman, a 6-9 center, had 18 points and the unseeded Cubs stunned top seed and host Thousand Oaks (31-3), which got 15 points by Miles Cartwright. See story.
Eisenhower 72, Leuzinger 71: Andrew Bock had 20 points but it was a last-second three-foot jumper by Alex Varner with four seconds left to pull out the victory. Leuzinger (26-7) took a 22-10 lead but Eisenhower (30-3) scored 27 in the second quarter to get back in the flow. Jerry Evans had 21 for Leuzinger, which got a 3-pointer by Julian Wheeler with 10 seconds left to go up 71-70. See story.
Saturday’s championship game
No. 2 Eisenhower (30-3) vs. Loyola (26-6), Pauley Pavilion, 4 p.m.
Rocklin junior guard Cody Kale leads the break.
Photo by Gary Jones
Northern California
St. Francis 63, Fairfield 52: West Catholic Athletic League co-MVP Shawn Grant had 19 points and 13 rebounds and Tyler Johnson added 14 points as top seed St. Francis, which has struggled much after being a regular on the regional tour, moved into its first final since 2002. Fairfield (25-8) got 17 points by Justin Lasley.
Rocklin 50, Hayward 49: We had a feeling Hayward, despite its less-than-impressive 21-8 record coming in, would give Rocklin a game. The second-seeded squad survived behind 18-point from UCLA-bound Brendan Lane. The Farmers, which got a combined 31 points from Davion Berry and Imani Stockstill, took a 49-48 lead on two free throws by Keith Martin with 1:29 to play but single free throws from Jackson Cummings and Lane, the second with 12.1 seconds left gave host Rocklin the lead back. A long 3-pointer by Berry at the buzzer missed. Last year the Thunder were eliminated in NorCals by a last-second shot.
Saturday’s championship
No. 1 St. Francis (30-2) vs. No. 2 Rocklin (31-2), Arco Arena, 4 p.m.
Austin Kelly led Harvard-Westlake past Gahr with 30 points.
File photo by Louis Lopez
DIVISION III
Southern California
Harvard-Westlake 97, Gahr 77: Austin Kelly had 30 points, including 18 in the second half to lead the top-seed Wolverines (27-6) to victory. Gahr, which sought revenge from an earlier defeat to Harvard-Westlake, got 30 points by Devin Goldston, but were really never in it.
Ocean View 66, Canyon 57: Mason Jones had 27 points and Ryan Okwudiboneye 16 rebounds helping coach Jim Harris reach his first regional final. Harris has more than 300 victories in his 30 years of coaching. The second-seeded Seahawks (26-7) broke Canyon’s 19-game win streak. Anthony Brown had 16 points for the winners and Chris Anderson had 15 points for Canyon (26-7).
Saturday’s championship
No. 1 Harvard-Westlake (27-6) vs. No. 2 Ocean View (26-7), Pauley Pavilion, noon
Northern California
Sacred Heart Cathedral 78, Enterprise 42: Following a five-hour drive from Redding, it figured Enterprise might come out a little tight. The top-seeded Irish jumped on their rivals from the North with an 11-0 and were never really threatened as Jerry Brown (18 points, Kevin Greene (15 points) and Daryl Cooper (11 points) led the charge. The Irish go back to Arco, a place Brown and Greene played as freshman, losing in the state championship game. Some feel the Irish have underachieved the next two years but this season they have been solid all season. Enterprise closed at 20-11.
Sacramento 61, Analy 41: San Diego State-bound Chase Tapley had 25 points and 13 rebounds and wouldn’t let the upstart squad from Sebastopol deny a home date in the NorCal finals. Sacramento got a big boost from sophomore Josiah Turner, who was supposed to be out the rest of the year with a wrist injury, but added 13 points and six assists. Analy (27-7), the North Coast Section champs, got 11 points each from Gavin Winter and Kevin Aronis.
Saturday’s championship
No. 1 Sacred Heart Cathedral (26-4) vs. No. 2 Sacramento (27-6), Arco Arena, noon.
DIVISION IV
Southern California
Bishop Montgomery 76, Bakersfield 52: The balanced Knights were at their best as Justin Cobbs had 16 points, Mike Panaggio 15, Chris Miller 13 and Richard Solomon 12 points and 15 rebounds to snap Bakersfield Christian’s 18-game win streak. Marcus Hall had 17 points for Bakersfield Christian, which fell behind 45-19 by halftime. See story.
Price 79, Morningside 73: A perennial Division V power, Price is just one step away from its first Division IV state final after a tough home win over upstart Morningside (24-10).
Saturday’s championship
No. 1 Bishop Montgomery (27-4) vs. No. 3 Price (28-6), Cal State Fullerton, 7 p.m.
St. Mary's and Aalim Moore were emphatic on Thursday.
File photo by Dennis Lee
Northern California
Salesian 72, Sutter 47: This wasn’t really fare, a Northern Section team having to travel all the way to the Bay Area to face the top seed. The Pride (29-4), to their credit, came out hot, made five of six 3-pointers in the first quarter en route to a 24-10 lead. One of the state’s top sophomores Jabari Brown had a game-high 18 points and terrific junior forward Desmond Simmons added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman point guard Dominic Artis contributed 15. Sutter (23-6), the fourth seed, got 12 points and nine rebounds by Nikos Krohn.
St. Mary’s-Berkeley 59, Modesto Christian 40: We figured this to be a barn burner but instead St. Mary’s brought its “A” game, led by Santa Barbara-bound Chris Brew with 24 points and Dominique Lee with 17. Lee also did a tremendous job on UCLA-bound Reeves Nelson, holding the 6-8 senior to 11 points. Modesto Christian was on a big time roll but got outscored 16-2 in the third quarter and never really threatened after that.
Saturday’s championship
No. 1 Salesian (29-4) vs. St. Mary’s-Berkeley (28-5), Folsom High, 7 p.m.
DIVISION V
Southern California
Windward 80, Central Valley 67: Two of the state’s top players, Michigan-bound Darius Morris had 24 and UCLA-bound post Anthony Stove added 19 to offset a 28-point effort from CVC’s Lance Reeves. A 27-14 spurt in the third quarter proved decisive. See story.
Pacific Hills 67, Foothill Christian 58: Third-seed Pacific Hills (28-6) held high-scoring Foothill Christian 20 points below its season average and Derrick Flowers had 21 points including four key baskets down the stretch. Troy Leaf, one of the state’s top scorers, had 21 for host and second seed Foothill Christian (27-6). See story.
Saturday’s championship
No. 1 Windward (27-6) vs. No. 3 Pacific Hills (28-6), Cal State Fullerton, 3 p.m.
Northern California
St. Joseph Notre Dame 62, Redding Christian 49: The top-seeded and host Pilots (25-8) got 18 points from Jacari Whitefield and wore down the visitor’s from five hours North. Redding Christian (26-6) ran off 10 straight points to start the second half and tied the score at 28-28 when Whitfield buried a 3-pointer to put St. Joseph up for good. Dan Bartow led all scorers with 21 points for Redding Christian.
Branson 46, Eastside Prep 44: The three-time defending state champions, after enduring a rare loss in the NCS title game last Saturday, responded with their second straight win but this wasn’t easy as Gabe Avins came off the bench to score 18 points to knock off Eastside Prep (20-8). Avin connected on four 3-pointers in the second quarter and teammate Adam Boone added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Ivan Prema led all scorers with 20 points for Eastside, which also got a big game from Taylor Johns (12 rebounds).
Saturday’s final
No. 1 St. Joseph Notre Dame (25-8) vs. Branson (30-4), Folsom High, 3 p.m.
Some information for this story was attained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Contra Costa Times, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Modesto Bee, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, Orange County Register and San Diego Union-Tribune.
