Columbus vs. Harvard-Westlake: Live LSI basketball tournament championship recap
HILLSBORO, OREGON - A Les Schwab Invitational champion will be crowned for the 27th time Saturday night.
Nationally ranked Columbus (9-4) and Harvard-Westlake (15-0) are slated to play in the championship game at 8:45 p.m.
Catch up on everything you missed from the week — semifinals, quarterfinals and the first round.
The championship game is underway after Perry (Arizona) defeated Central Catholic (Oregon) in the third place game. Refresh this post for the latest score and game updates from Liberty High School.
Read the full story, or scroll down and catch up on our game thread, which was updated throughout the day yesterday until after the final buzzer.
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LSI CHAMPIONSHIP
FINAL: COLUMBUS (FL) 55, HARVARD-WESTLAKE (CA) 54
Columbus' Cameron Boozer is named tournament MVP after finishing dominant four-game Les Schwab Invitational showdown
-- Columbus inbounds the pass and runs out the final two seconds to hold on for the 55-54 victory. It's a chaotic, controversial ending to a hard-fought championship game between two elite squads. Columbus improves to 10-4 this season and hands Harvard-Westlake (15-1) its first loss of the year.
-- The inbound passer for Harvard-Westlake is called for illegally moving on the baseline, so Columbus gets the ball back without having to defend a potential game-winning shot.
-- Malik Abdullahi comes through with a clutch shot from under the basket for Columbus. The Explorers take a 55-54 lead, and Harvard-Westlake calls a timeout with two seconds left.
-- Harvard-Westlake quickly regains the lead on a jumper from Trent Perry. The Wolverines lead by one, 54-53, in the final minute.
-- Nikolas Khamenia fouls out and sends Malik Abdullahi to the free throw line for two shots. The Princeton commit hits one, and Columbus is back in front 53-52.
-- Jase Richardson finishes through a foul in the paint, and Cameron Boozer cleans up his miss on the free throw to give Columbus the lead. It's a four point play for the Explorers, and Nikolas Khamenia picks up his fourth foul in the process.
-- Robert Hinton cleans up a miss for Harvard-Westlake to make it 49-46 in favor of the Wolverines. The Explorers call a timeout with just under four minutes remaining.
-- Nikolas Khamenia is officially on fire. The four-star junior drills a deep three to put Harvard-Westlake ahead 45-42 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
-- Khamenia hits again, this time near the corner in the final seconds of the third quarter to tie the game. It's 40-40 with one quarter to play in the LSI championship.
-- Nikolas Khamenia knocks down a jumper to tie the game back up at 38, but a drive to the basket by Jase Richardson puts Columbus back in front by two points, 40-38, in the final minute of the third quarter.
-- The run continues for Columbus. The Explorers have built a four point lead with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
-- Cameron finds his brother Cayden Boozer on the wing for a three pointer, and the game is tied back up at 32.
-- Now Cameron Boozer knocks down his first field goal of the game with a jumper from the baseline. Looks like the superstar might have found his shot here in the second half.
-- Cameron Boozer is in the scoring column. The five-star forward hits both free throws after taking a foul. Harvard-Westlake leads 28-27 early in the third quarter.
-- Second half of the LSI championship game is underway. Worth noting that Columbus is without head coach Andrew Moran tonight due to illness.
-- Three different Wolverines (Trent Perry, Robert Hinton and Nikolas Khamenia) scored eight points in the first half. The Explorers were led by 11 points from Jase Richardson and four points from Cayden Boozer, while Cameron Boozer (0-for-6) did not score in the first half.
-- Jase Richardson shows off his finishing ability with a tough drive to the hoop in the final seconds of the first half. The Michigan State-bound guard converts the and-one with a make at the free throw line. Harvard-Westlake leads by five, 26-21, after one half in the LSI championship.
-- Robert Hinton throws down a dunk in transition after Cameron Boozer misses another shot off the front of the rim. The five-star junior has yet find the bottom of the basket tonight. Columbus calls a timeout with Harvard-Westlake leading 25-18.
-- Harvard-Westlake takes its first lead of the game on a three pointer by USC commit Trent Perry, who is fouled on the shot. No four-point play this time however, as Perry misses the free throw.
-- Randy Smitih buries a three for Columbus to extend the Explorers’ lead to 16-10 early in the second quarter.
-- No score from Harvard-Westlake on the final possession of the first quarter. Columbus leads 11-10 heading into the second quarter.
-- The pace is beginning to pick up here late in the first quarter after a bit of a slow start offensively for both teams. Harvard-Westlake senior Trent Perry goes 2-for-2 at the free throw line to make it a one point game, 11-10, with Columbus leading.
-- The gym at Liberty High School is packed for the 32nd and final game of the week: a clash of two nationally ranked, star-studded Titans.
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THIRD PLACE GAME:
FINAL: PERRY (AZ) 88, CENTRAL CATHOLIC (OR) 78
-- Perry has looked as good as it has all tournament, building a double-digit lead it will not relinquish, despite pace-pushing tempo and a barrage of 3-point attempts from Central Catholic.
-- A Brown floater in transition drops over Duce Paschal's outstretched long-armed contest. On the next possession, Central's Marley Zeller explodes into the lane for a two-handed dunk, but Brown beats the third quarter buzzer to keep Perry's lead at 11 heading into the fourth.
-- No No Brown says Yes Yes to stepping into a 3-pointer to send Perry into the break up 10.
-- Point-forward? 6-foot-9 Koa Peat dribbles the length of the floor, draws the defense into the lane and dishes to Barron Silsby for a corner 3.
-- D'Andre Harrison has been Perry's best player all week (ask opposing coaches), and has 11 points midway through the second quarter to give Perry an early lead.
-- Perry entered the week on the bubble of the SBLive/SI Power 25 national rankings. After taking a lopsided loss to nationally ranked Harvard-Westlake, the Pumas have a chance to leave Portland on a high note with a win over arguably the best team in the state of Oregon.
-- Central Catholic is led by guard Isaac Carr (Oregon commit) and wing Marley Zeller, who is looking more and more like a steal for Lorenzo Romar and Pepperdine by the day.
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SOUTHRIDGE DOWNS BEAVERTON IN 5TH PLACE GAME
Another day, another Skyhawk leads the way.
This time, Alonzo Hoff had 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting (3 of 3 from 3) and seven boards, leading five double-digit scorers.
Brutal news came out of Beaverton's win over Barlow on Friday. Chance Winter, the Beavers' 6-foot-11 center, broke his hand when it was pinned against the backboard and watched the game with his armed in a sling.
Southridge (10-1) finishes its LSI run 3-1 with its lone loss to nationally ranked Harvard-Westlake — a week that carried additional meaning for at leas three of its members:
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CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP: TUALATIN 75, JESUIT 72 (OT)
Jaden Steppe was one assist away from a triple-double as Tualatin squeaked out a win over Jesuit in overtime.
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MORE CONSOLATION:
MT. SPOKANE EDGES BARLOW
Mt. Spokane (8-2) fended off a late comeback attempt to hold on to beat Barlow in its final game of its LSI debut.
The Bruins (6-3) sent Ryan Lafferty to the line down one after Jalen Atkins drilled a step-back 3-pointer with five seconds left. Lafferty's free throw rimmed off, but senior Jackson Reijonen pulled down the rebound and the Wildcats dribbled out the clock.
McKay Smith hit two free throws to put Mt. Spokane up four with 15 seconds left.
CASCADE CHRISTIAN BEATS SUMMIT AT BUZZER
Seven-footer Austin Maurer dominated, and Cascade Christian sent Summit home via buzzer-beater for the second consecutive day, 77-75.
Tied at 75-75 with 2.9 seconds left, Maurer caught an opposite baseline inbound heave at half court (a la Christian Laettner), drew a double-team and dished to Peyton Maurer on the baseline, who dropped a (lightly) contested layup off the glass at the buzzer.
Summit was paced by Boise State commit Pearson Carmichael's 29 points
Austin Maurer, a Grand Canyon commit, finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks for the Challengers. More on him:
HOST LIBERTY FINISHES STRONG
Tyler Bradford posted 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, and Elijah Streeter hit five 3-pointers on his way to 20 points to lift Liberty (7-2) over Mountainside.
Eli Vizconde led the Mavericks (6-4) with a game-high 23 points.
WEST LINN DISPENSES OF LAKE OSWEGO
Jalen Snook went off for 29 points, including five 3-pointers, and the defending LSI champion Lions finished with a consolation win.
Lake Oswego finished with one double-digit scorer — Liam Rigby (11 points).
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MORE #LSI27:
SBLive Sports is the Official Media Partner of the 2023 Les Schwab Invitational. Stay with SBLive Oregon for unmatched tournament coverage.
-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveor
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