Fairfax claims Western League title with victory over Westchester

Steve Baik was the national coach of the year last season at Chino Hills, when his team went 35-0 and scored 100 or more points 18 times. Now he’s the head coach at Fairfax, and he’s starting to understand what happens when his team faces rival Westchester in the City Section.

“This is what high school basketball is all about,” Baik said after the Lions rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit to surge past the Comets, 56-53, before a sellout crowd at Fairfax on Friday night. The win gave the Lions the Western League championship and secured a No. 2 seeding in the City Section Open Division playoffs.

The two players who have led Fairfax (24-3) all season, junior guard Jamal Hartwell and sophomore guard Ethan Anderson, came through again. Hartwell made four consecutive free throws in the final 18 seconds and finished with 15 points. Anderson, playing in only his second game since returning from a sprained knee injury, had 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

“He’s one of the top guards in California,” Baik said of Anderson.

Said Anderson: “In this type of atmosphere, my adrenaline got me going. My team trusted me.”

Another important contributor for Fairfax was 6-7 junior Kirk Smith. After a shaky start, he made two baskets in the fourth quarter, including a dunk with 1:21 left. He had 14 rebounds.

“He was asleep,” Baik said. “I reminded him of his responsibilities.”

Said Smith: “I kept making mistakes. Coach talked me through it.”

Fairfax struggled trying to contain Luis Rodriguez, who scored 21 points. But another sophomore, Robert McRae, started guarding Rodriguez in the fourth quarter and held him to one basket in the final eight minutes.

After Hartwell made two free throws with 4.7 seconds left, Westchester (22-8) had a chance to tie, but a three-point attempt by Chris Simmons as the buzzer sounded went in and out.

Both teams know there’s little time to celebrate. The eight-team Open Division tournament begins next week, and if all goes according to the expected seedings, Westchester and Fairfax could play for a third time in the semifinals. Fairfax pulled out a 60-57 victory over the Comets on Jan. 18

“The difficult part is we’re probably going to face them again,” Baik said.

Southern Section teams

The Southern Section announced the 16 teams for its Open Division tournament that begins next week.

They are Alemany, Torrance Bishop Montgomery, Corona Centennial, Chino Hills, Crossroads, Damien, Anaheim Esperanza, North Hills Heritage Christian, San Juan Capistrano JSerra, Santa Ana Mater Dei, Oak Park, Long Beach Poly, Redondo, Eastvale Roosevelt, Santa Margarita, Chartsworth Sierra Canyon.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: latsondheimer