Bryce Hamilton slams home two of his 27 in the final against Harvard Westlake. (Photo by Duane Barker)
By Tim Peterson
(Glendora) – Harvard-Westlake jumped out to a 13 point first quarter lead, increased it to 20 by halftime and went on to beat Pasadena 68-58 Friday night in the Division 1A Final at Felix Event Center at Azusa Pacific University.
The Bulldogs managed to cut the lead to nine in the fourth quarter but the outcome was never really in doubt as the Wolverines won by ten.
In the first quarter, Jonathan Juzang converted a four point play and Cassius Stanley got lose for a three point play as Harvard-Westlake dominated and raced out to a 24-11 lead after one quarter.
Darius Brown II ran the show for the Bulldogs in the final. (Photo by Duane Barker)
Pasadena went on a little 7-0 run to open the second quarter as Bryce Hamilton made some noise down in the paint but Westlake responded with an 11-2 run to go up 35-18.
Juzang, a 6-7 freshman, knocked down a three and another deuce inside as the Wolverines opened up a 42-22 halftime lead.
Juzang led Westlake with 13 points at the half while Stanley and Mason Hooks had eight inside. Hamilton led the Bulldogs with 11 at the break.
Pasadena tried to keep pace in the third quarter as Jesse Watkins knocked down a three and Hamilton got free for a couple jumpers in the lane to get within 16 at 52-36. Juzang hit another corner three for Harvard-Westlake. A Hamilton drive and bucket for a three point play and a nice move down the lane by Darius Brown II sliced the lead to 11.
Westlake was outscored by nine in the quarter to lead 52-41 after three.
A pair of Hamilton free throws early in the fourth cut the Westlake lead to nine but the Wolverines answered with four of their own to go back up by 13.
Another nice move inside by Hamilton with under four minutes left again got the Bulldogs within nine and a three by Brown with 1:15 left made it 64-56. That was as close as Pasadena would get as Harvard-Westlake held on to win 68-58.
Juzang finished with 21 for the Wolverines and Stanley had 16. Hamilton did the bulk of the scoring for Pasadena and led all scorers with 27, Brown II had 13 and Darius Mason-Robertson was also in double figures with 10.
Despite the loss , the season isn’t over for Pasadena. They will be competing in the State Tournament which starts next week.
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