Wolverines Enjoy Late Resurgence

North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, which plays host tonight to third-seeded Compton Centennial in a Division III semifinal of the Southern California Regional boys’ basketball playoffs, has had an up-and-down season.

The second-seeded Wolverines were No. 4 in The Times’ preseason rankings. But once the season began, that position looked too charitable as they lost by 22 points to unranked Oxnard. They lost three more games to out-of-state teams, then fell to Los Angeles Loyola in their second Mission League game.

Nearly out of the top 25 by then, the Wolverines (23-7) have regrouped to win 15 of their last 16 games.

Harvard-Westlake’s turnaround continued Tuesday with an 88-59 victory over visiting Hanford in a state regional quarterfinal. This was on the heels of a 74-63 victory over Compton Centennial in the Southern Section Division III-A final on Saturday.

After the victory Saturday, Harvard-Westlake players and Coach Greg Hilliard said their slow start could be traced to a lack of chemistry.

“We struggled early with everybody’s role,” said senior Bryce Taylor, who leads the team in scoring. “Sometimes, we relied on me too much to do all the scoring.”

Harvard-Westlake was also breaking in a new point guard, junior Ed White, who was asked to switch from shooting guard in the off-season.

“I didn’t start feeling comfortable until that first loss to Loyola,” White said.

Dan Arritt

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Girls’ Basketball

Norco has lost twice this season to Fullerton Troy, but the Cougars will get a another chance tonight in a Southern California Regional Division II quarterfinal at Cal State Fullerton.

Troy (31-1), the defending Division II state champion, could be without leading scorer Meghan McGuire, who had 25 points against Norco in a 61-54 victory in the Southern Section Division II-AA title game on Saturday.

Norco, in the section finals for the first time, had a lead in the fourth quarter of that game

McGuire sat out Troy’s 74-43 victory over North Bakersfield in the regional quarterfinals on Tuesday because of a sprained ankle, and she didn’t practice Wednesday.

“She had 25 points and 12 rebounds [against Norco], and we’re not going to replace that with one person,” Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan said. “She really wants to play, but I don’t want her to play when she’s less than effective.”

Norco (28-4) nearly lost its quarterfinal game on Tuesday against San Diego Section Division II champion Spring Valley Mount Miguel, but held on for a 41-40 victory, thanks to a last-second missed shot.

“The kids’ mouths said they were ready to play [Tuesday], but it was obvious their legs, heart and soul weren’t,” Norco Coach Rick Thompson said.

“You’re talking about the biggest game in Norco history [against Troy], which makes it the biggest loss. From Sunday to Monday, these teenage kids have to emotionally deal with this thing. We spent the entire time on Monday enjoying ourselves and spent zero time on game strategy.

“We likened [Mount Miguel] to a number of teams we had already played -- [Fullerton] Rosary, Riverside North, Corona Centennial -- and used the game plan we would use for them.

“We felt with one day of practice, we were better served by coaching their emotions than coaching their heads.”

-- Martin Henderson