The Trinity-Mission League showcase gave Southern Section basketball players a taste of pro-level competition by taking place at the Intuit Dome.
The Harvard Westlake Wolverines are the top boys basketball team in the state and is second place in the nation. They defeated the St. Francis Golden Knights 59-52. Wolverines senior Isaiah Carroll noted how remaining competitive has been a “grind.”
“A lot of the core players have been together for a long time, we’re very familiar with what we need to do to accomplish what we’ve accomplished,” Carroll said. “That consists of grinding every day in practice and just treating every game like it could be your last one.”
Although Harvard Westlake maintained the lead throughout the game, St. Francis found ways to be competitive and keep the game close.
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“I feel like they challenged us to really be locked in,” said Wolverine junior Dom Ventho. “On the defensive side, stay in front of the ball and just testing our minds.”
The Wolverines now have a 27-1 overall record and they dominate the Mission League with a 7-0 record. St. Francis has a 16-13 overall record and a 0-7 Mission League record.
The final game of the night was the Sierra Canyon vs Sherman Oaks Notre Dame game. Led by the efforts of junior Tyran Stokes, the Notre Dame Knights managed to build a 17-14 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Sierra Canyon Trailblazers found their offensive rhythm and went into halftime with a one-point lead. Getting stops and pushing the pace helped them battle Notre Dame.
“We’re all used to playing at big stages, so we know how the process goes,” said Trailblazer senior Bryce Cofield. “Some people have nerves so you always got to get those out first couple of minutes and then you will be rolling.”
The Trailblazer defense held the Knights to 10 points in the third quarter alone. They scored 17 in that time period. Senior Gavin Hightower noted how Sierra Canyon takes pride in their defense.
“We work on defense every single day,” Hightower said. “We want to showcase that we’re on the of the best defensive teams in the country.”
Sierra Canyon is the ranked eighth in California and 29th nationally. While Notre Dame is ranked 42nd in the nation, they are in seventh place in California.
