In a dramatic opening game of the City Section Open Division boys’ basketball playoffs Wednesday night, No. 3-seeded Cleveland and No. 6 Washington Prep went back and forth in the second half with nine lead changes. Then came the decisive basket, a baseline three by Cleveland’s Kamari King with 1:26 left to give the Cavaliers the lead for good in a 59-57 home victory.
King finished with 16 points. The semifinals are set for Monday at Roybal, with Cleveland taking on No. 2 Westchester and No. 1 Chatsworth facing No. 4 Palisades, which defeated Venice 81-52.
The game featured a battle of 6-foot-8 centers. Cleveland’s Serigne Deme had 18 points and 16 rebounds. Washington Prep’s Gabaree Scott had 18 points.
Washington Prep (17-9) had the ball with 3.7 seconds left, but Antwain Johnson couldn’t connect on a fadeaway jumper. Cleveland is 23-5 and made up for losing to LACES in the opening round last season as the No. 1 seed.
“This means a lot for us,” coach Dagem Asfaw said. “That was not a No. 6 seed. They had bigs, they had guards.”
Westchester 60, Birmingham 41: Jordan Ballard had 15 points to lead the Comets.
Chatsworth 62, Fairfax 51: The Lions gave top-seeded Chatsworth a scare, leading 28-20 at halftime before the Chancellors rallied for the victory. Alijah Arenas scored 21 points.
Girls basketball
Sierra Canyon 69, Sage Hill 33: Jerzy Robinson scored 29 points to make the Trailblazers 27-1 going into a showdown game Saturday at Ontario Christian to decide a final berth for the Southern Section Open Division.
Etiwanda 78, Windward 37: Two-time defending state champion Etiwanda (24-4) moved within one win of advancing to the Southern Section Open Division final. The Eagles host Mater Dei on Saturday.
Harvard-Westlake 65, Chaminade 49: Deana Thompson scored 21 points and Bella Spencer 20 points to send the Wolverines into the Division 1 semifinals.