Harvard-Westlake boys basketball regroups in second half to beat JSerra and remain unbeaten in Open playoffs

STUDIO CITY — The JSerra boys basketball team came out with a defensive game plan Tuesday that Harvard-Westlake hadn’t seen before this season.

The Wolverines have seen teams face guard Joe Sterling before, but the Lions were sending doubles and sometimes triple teams his way and were doing the same to Nikolas Khamenia.

Harvard-Westlake ingested that information in the first 16 minutes of the game, went into the locker room at the break and came out with a new plan of attack, turning a one-point halftime deficit into a 61-48 win.

Sterling and Khamenia played decoy roles to near perfection in the second half, staying cool under pressure and letting the double teams come to them so they could find their teammates for open looks.

With defenders draped on Sterling and Khamenia, the rest of the team started getting open looks and hitting shots.

Isaiah Carroll, Cole Holden and Dominique Bentho combined for 13 points in the third quarter, giving the Wolverines (29-1) back the lead heading into the final frame.

“They had a really good game plan, and it’s something we hadn’t seen this year before. But even then, we’re ready for whatever’s thrown at us,” Khamenia said. “We figured it out and then used me and Joe as kind of like decoys and guys got open. So whether it’s Isaiah, Cole, Amir (Jones), Dom, Barron (Linnekens), Pierce (Thompson), nobody cares about who’s the leading scorer. Nobody cares about stats. As long as we put another banner up, we’re all good.”

With other guys hitting shots, Sterling and Khamenia were also able to get their offense going, as Harvard-Westlake methodically started to break down JSerra’s defense.

Sterling was perfect from the field and the free-throw line, making all four of his field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, and all eight of his free throws to finish with 18 points.

“Coach (David) Rebibo drew up a little action for us to kind of counteract that and basically kind of put me on ball more coming off ball screens, and then since two are coming to me, someone’s open,” Sterling said. “It’s tough when they’re face guarding you full court and stuff like that. It’s tiring, too. But we adjusted mid-game, figured it out. There’s two on me, so someone else is open.”

Harvard-Westlake is 2-0 in the Open Division of the playoffs and will face Notre Dame on Friday for the third time this season. The Knights are 3-0 in the playoffs after beating Santa Margarita 67-59 on Tuesday.

JSerra, 1-2 in the playoffs, has a week off before playing La Mirada.

“We got Notre Dame for the third time, so they’re going to be coming in here hungry,” Sterling said. “But we know what we’ve got to do. It’s going to be a dogfight, and we’re going to have to just play hard and just execute down the stretch.”

Carroll, like he has been doing all season, brought hustle and energy to give the Wolverines a spark in the second half Tuesday.

The senior hit two 3-pointers in the third quarter, chased down loose balls and grabbed several offensive rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, Carroll caught an inbounds lob pass from Khamenia with three seconds left on the shot clock and finished with a thunderous jam to give the Wolverines a 10-point lead.

“Not only is he an elite talent and an elite athlete, but he’s an elite winner,” Rebibo said about Carroll. “He’s been huge. He’s been a major X factor for us and someone that’s going to be instrumental for us to do what we want to do.”

BJ Davis-Ray led the Lions (22-9) in scoring with 16 points and Jarne Eyenga added nine points, four rebounds and three assists.

In addition to the victory, Harvard-Westlake had the chance to celebrate Khamenia’s selection to the McDonald’s All-American Games, presenting him with his jersey before the game.

Former Harvard-Westlake McDonald’s All-Americans Jarron Collins (class of 1997) and Kiki Iriafen (class of 2021) were on hand to bestow the award to Khamenia.

“It’s still kind of crazy knowing that I’m a McDonald’s All-American. It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Khamenia said. “I had that on my list of goals that I wanted to achieve during my high school career. It’s definitely a great personal goal. But to bring my team back into it, I wouldn’t be in the position I am without those guys.”