Harvard-Westlake vs. La Mirada: Superlatives

STUDIO CITY — Tuesday night's CIF Southern Section Open Division semifinal matchup between Harvard-Westlake and La Mirada was a story of two halves.   The Matadores came into the game riding high off of an upset win over Redondo Union while the Wolverines earned an upset of sorts over Santa Margarita but no follower of the SoCal hoops scene was surprised to see Harvard-Westlake in position to reach another Open Division championship game.   La Mirada was firing on all cylinders in the first half and took a 36-34 lead into the break but Harvard-Westlake, known as a strong second-half team, made some key halftime adjustments which helped it to a dominant 22-7 third quarter that shifted the momentum of the game as HW took a 56-43 lead into the fourth quarter.   La Mirada made a final push with a 7-0 run but the Wolverines' discipline on both ends of the floor and interior presence on the offensive end was too much for the Matadores to mount a comeback.   Harvard-Westlake advanced to the Open Division title game where it will take on Mission League foe Sierra Canyon Saturday at 6 p.m. at Toyota Arena in Ontario.   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Best Scorers: [player_tooltip player_id='1956504' first='Joe' last='Sterling'], Harvard-Westlake | [player_tooltip player_id='2194355' first='Gene' last='Roebuck'], La Mirada</h4>   On Sterling: The 6-foot-3 combo guard came out aggressive in the first quarter - scoring 11 points in the first eight minutes - and set the tone for what the rest of the game was going to look like. The University of Texas-signee was knocking down his patented mid-range jumpers and off-bounce, deep range three-point shots with consistency and finished with 25 points on 9-for-18 from the field and 4-for-9 from distance. Sterling is among the best shot-creators and shot-makers out west.   On Roebuck: The 6-foot-5 junior led all scorers with 29 points in the loss for the Matadores and, like Sterling above, Roebuck has such an advanced feel for creating his own shot in isolation and has the ability to make the difficult look easy. Roebuck's ability to score in bunches allowed La Mirada to take a two-point lead into halftime as he carried 17 points into the break. As a state's top five prospect, Roebuck draws a tremendous amount of defensive attention but his scoring versatility still allows him to put up big numbers.   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Best Passers: [player_tooltip player_id='2136707' first='Amir' last='Jones'], Harvard-Westlake | [player_tooltip player_id='2307230' first='Cisco' last='Munoz'], La Mirada</h4>   On Jones: Jones is so steady at organizing the Wolverines offense and getting them into their stuff that sometimes his passing ability is under-appreciated because it's so simple and within the flow of the offense. The 6-foot-3 Georgia State-signee handed out five assists - four in the first half - and his decision-making led to numerous "hockey assists."   On Munoz: The 5-foot-11 junior is as savvy as they come with the ball in his hands and his ability to manipulate defenses in isolation or ball-screen situations allows him to get paint touches where his vision and basketball IQ take over when finding open teammates. Munoz delivered on-time and on-target passes in live dribble situations and off of two-foot jump stops and pivots en route to five assists on the night.   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Best Shooter: [player_tooltip player_id='2435366' first='Cole' last='Holden'], Harvard-Westlake</h4>   On Holden: When you talk about an efficient shooting and scoring performance, Holden's effort Tuesday night is case-in-point. The 6-foot-3 junior scored 14 points on 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range. Holden was very effective as an off-ball mover where he used screens and hand-offs to create space from defenders and elevate into his fluid and fundamental jump shooting mechanics.   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Best Big Man: [player_tooltip player_id='1956502' first='Dominique' last='Bentho'], Harvard-Westlake</h4>   On Bentho: The 6-foot-8 center took a back seat from a scoring standpoint through the first three quarters of this game and focused his impact more on rebounding, screening and rim protecting but that all changed in the second half when Harvard-Westlake took full control of the game. Bentho scored six of his eight points in the fourth quarter as a roller out of ball screen action where his soft hands and touch allowed him to catch, gather, and finish at the rim.   <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Best Second Half Performance: [player_tooltip player_id='2136707' first='Amir' last='Jones'], Harvard-Westlake</h4>   On Jones: Jones let Sterling and Holden work on the offensive end in the first half but came alive in the third and fourth quarters when the Wolverines separated from La Mirada for good. Jones scored eight of his 14 points in the third quarter, including two three-pointers, in an eight-minute span where Harvard-Westlake outscored the Matadores 22-7. Jones finished with 14 points for the game with 12 of those coming in the second half.

STUDIO CITY — Tuesday night's CIF Southern Section Open Division semifinal matchup between Harvard-Westlake and La Mirada was a story of two halves.