Hoophall West: No. 2 Gonzaga Goes Down!

FAB 50 No. 31 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) upsets No. 2 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) on the Hoophall West occasion in Arizona to arrange a Saturday championship sport (9 pm MT) with nonetheless unbeaten and No. 49 De La Salle (Harmony, Calif.).

With California’s high three ranked golf equipment enjoying within the Nike Match of Champions that includes Hoophall West in Gilbert, Ariz., it was really just one Golden State membership that was featured within the occasion’s eight-team bracket. State No. 1 and FAB 50 No. 9 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) and No. 2 and FAB 50 No. 10 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) are enjoying in three round-robin video games on the occasion, so it was No. 3 and No. 31 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) that had the most effective alternative to make a giant splash on a nationwide stage.

The Wolverines had been at No. 31 within the newest FAB 50 Nationwide Staff Rankings, primarily due to a December 61-49 loss to Timpview (Utah) on the street in Utah, however they’ve atoned for it huge time by their first two video games at Highland Excessive Faculty within the Southeast portion of Phoenix’s better Valley. Coach David Rebibo’s membership two video games up to now will not be solely nice momentum builders in its quest for a never-before-accomplished third consecutive CIF Open Division state championship in California, but additionally a swoon for all top-rated California golf equipment.

That is as a result of Harvard-Westlake upset FAB 50 No. 2 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), 66-63, in Friday’s semifinals in a terrific sport that got here all the way down to the wire. That got here on the heels of its 57-54 first spherical victory over No. 12 Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.) on Thursday night and people two outcomes will definitely shake up the subsequent FAB 50 replace on Jan. 6.

Harvard-Westlake will take its 17-1 document into Saturday’s Hoophall West championship sport at 9 pm (MT) at Highland (Gilbert, Ariz.) in opposition to one other California membership, No. 49 De La Salle (Harmony, Calif.), in what may very well be a preview of the 2025 CIF open state title sport which is all the time a North vs. South affair.

Gonzaga, one of many nation’s finest packages as a part of the highly effective Washington Catholic Athletic Convention (WCAC), made solely 9-of-26 area objectives and had 9 turnovers to Harvard-Westlake’s three and nonetheless led 25-23 at halftime. It was solely a matter of time earlier than the Purple Eagles’ effort began to indicate up on the scoreboard. They went on 8-0 run to take a 33-27 lead over Harvard-Westlake with 5:47 to go within the third interval and led by as many as 9 factors within the quarter.