Harvard-Westlake edges Roosevelt, punches ticket to second straight CIF State Open final
STUDIO CITY, CALIFORNIA - Trent Perry isn't a complicated young man, and with his Harvard-Westlake team trailing double-digits at halftime, his thought process was as simple as can be.
"It was easy," Perry said. "I thought to myself, 'The rest of my season is just 16 minutes long, or I can earn myself one more game'."
The USC-bound senior scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half to anchor the Wolverines back to the CIF State Open Division final with a 63-59 comeback victory over Eastvale Roosevelt in the SoCal regional final at home Tuesday night.
"It's easy to separate and become individuals when things aren't going well," fellow senior Robert Hinton said. "We stuck together."
Harvard-Westlake will take on Salesian, the NorCal champion, on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The Wolverines won the CIF State Open Division championship last year, beating Santa Maria St. Joseph 76-65.
Perry was 11 of 11 from the free throw line Tuesday night and hasn't missed a free throw in his last two games (24 of 24). Hinton scored 14 points, 10 of which came in the second quarter. Nik Khamenia added 13 for the Wolverines.
Roosevelt, which fell to Harvard-Westlake just over a week ago in the CIF Southern Section Open Division final, was led by standout junior Brayden Burries' 24 points. Issac Williamson added 13 for the Mustangs.
Harvard-Westlake led 10-8 in the first quarter and didn't regain the lead until Perry's basket made it 47-46 with six minutes to play. Burries hit a 3-pointer to take the lead back at 54-53 with 2:30 to go, but Khamenia scored to take the lead back for good.
Perry converted an and-1 to give Harvard-Westlake a 59-55 lead with 35 seconds left that kept Roosevelt at bay with the help of made free throws.
Harvard-Westlake's girls basketball team will also be in Sacramento over the weekend after earning a trip to the CIF State Division II final.
