Harvard-Westlake boys basketball regroups to hold off a tenacious Crespi team

STUDIO CITY — No matter the matchup, no matter who’s playing or not, nothing comes easy in the Mission League.

The Harvard-Westlake boys basketball team got a taste of that sentiment Thursday night against a gritty Crespi team playing without its star senior Peyton White, who is nursing a hamstring injury.

The Celts, undersized but tenacious, kept pace with the Wolverines in the first half, keeping the score within striking distance.

But the Wolverines were able to regroup after the break, matching the Celts’ energy in the second half.

Nikolas Khamenia and Joe Sterling took over in the third quarter, helping Harvard-Westlake build a 26-point advantage. The Wolverines used that cushion to maintain their lead through the final whistle, defeating Crespi 67-56.

“We had spent a day and a half preparing for Peyton to play, which makes them a totally different team. And then he didn’t play, and they came out with a ton of energy and a ton of just fearlessness,” Harvard-Westlake head coach David Rebibo said. “And I think with that fearlessness, we kind of were like, whoa, you know, just what we didn’t expect.”

“First thing coach did was told us to take a deep breath, just calm down,” said Sterling, who finished with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds (six offensive). “We didn’t know Peyton wasn’t going to play, so we kind of had to adjust a little bit in the first half. And then in the second half, we just settled down, came out strong, and finished the game.”

Khamenia complemented Sterling on the offensive end, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The Duke commit scored 10 points in the momentum-shifting third quarter, driving to the basket with ferocity and finishing at the rim, including a thunderous dunk that brought his teammates to their feet.

Harvard-Westlake’s three other starters did their part to keep the Wolverines (20-1, 2-0) ahead, filling out the stat sheet.

Amir Jones scored eight points, Dominique Bentho added six points and Isaiah Carroll recorded four points, four rebounds and four assists.

“Between the three of them, I think they are contributing at one of the highest clips, which only adds to our depth and our ability to function at the highest level, which is huge,” Rebibo said. “Those three guys are critical because they allow other guys to do what they do. And that gets things going. Now, we’re seeing the emergence of Cole Holden and Pierce Thompson. Baron Linnekens is continuing to be a force, so it’s really cool to see.”

Isaiah Barnes was the main catalyst for Crespi (15-5, 0-1), playing feisty defense and showcasing his ability to score. He finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals.

“After we found out Peyton was going out, we all just came together and said we’ve got to hit first now. We all just decided we had to step up,” Barnes said. “It was a close game. They obviously have experience. They’ve been together for a long time. A lot of our team hasn’t even played Mission League basketball. So we came in here and we just tried to hit first to prove a point.”

Kingston Smith scored eight points, and Shaun Kowlessar and Carter Barnes had seven points apiece for Crespi.

Harvard-Westlake will take its 2-0 league record on the road Wednesday, Jan. 22, to play Loyola.

Crespi will be on the road against St. Francis on Saturday, Jan. 18, making up for the game that was postponed earlier this week due to the Los Angeles wildfires.