Boys Basketball: Bryce Hamilton, Pasadena Avenge Loss to Harvard-Westlake in CIF-SS Final 11 Days Ago; Bulldogs End Wolverines Season Tuesday On Road, 67-56, Advance to CIF State Division 2 Southern Regional Finals

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Hollywood couldn’t have written a better script if they tried. The Bulldogs lost by 10 points in the CIF-SS Division 1-A title game on March 3, and for much of that game, they were dominated by Harvard-Westlake at Azusa Pacific University. What a difference 11 days has made. After two […]

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

Hollywood couldn’t have written a better script if they tried.

The Bulldogs lost by 10 points in the CIF-SS Division 1-A title game on March 3, and for much of that game, they were dominated by Harvard-Westlake at Azusa Pacific University.

What a difference 11 days has made.

After two victories on the road in the CIF State Division 2 playoffs over Heritage Christian and Mission Hills, Pasadena traveled to Studio City Tuesday after earning a chance to take on Harvard-Westlake the regional semifinal.

It seemed all the momentum was pointing in the opposite direction.

And early on Tuesday, the Wolverines got off to an 8-3 start, and the Bulldogs were called for traveling twice, and had a shot blocked within the first couple minutes.

But coach Tony Brooks’s team authored one of the most compelling stories of redemption after handling Harvard-Westlake, 67-56.

The victory marked the furthest Pasadena has ever gone, and they’ll travel to Anaheim to take on Esperanza (28-3) on Saturday evening at 6 for the regional championship.

But back to Tuesday night.

Bryce Hamilton scored 30 in the first meeting, but it was on 10 of 33 shooting.

This time, Hamilton scored 31 points and took 16 less shots.

The junior went 8 of 15 from the field, grabbed 9 rebounds and was an incredible 13 of 14 from the free-throw line.

Pasadena (27-6) trailed by 3 at the half, but the Bulldogs took control of the game because of a 24-9 run in the third quarter.

After taking the lead, Pasadena would never trail again, and redemption was theirs.

The Bulldogs improved drastically on their sub-par performance 11 days ago.

Back then, they had just 6 team assists. but Tuesday night they had 15.

They held Johnny Juzang and Cassius Stanley to 26 points, and that was 11 less than their first appearance.

And Pasadena shot 52.4% from the field, which is 16 percentage points higher than in their loss to the Wolverines.

Darius Brown II was back to being DBII, as the junior point guard scored 20 points, made three 3-point baskets and dished out four assists.

Brown was 7 of 12 from the field, and 4 of 6 from the free-throw line.

Trailing 8-3 and the Harvard-Westlake crowd in a frenzy, Brown II stabilized the Bulldogs with a big 3-point basket, and quieted the crowd.

Darius Mason added 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals.

Laz Morris and Jesse Watkins combined for 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Pasadena couldn’t have possibly made a louder statement with their play.

Not only did they control a team that controlled them on March 3, they did it on the Wolverines home court and in front of a partisan crowd.

A capital ‘P’ might symbolize Pasadena, but it should also stand for perseverance for this young, but bold group of young men.

For those who would like to watch a replay of the entire game, click on the link for the Harvard-Westlake broadcast:

https://livestream.com/accounts/5043794/events/7132477/videos/151799922

Quotable:

PHS head coach Tony Brooks: “We wanted to compete in this environment. I thought the kids did everything thing we asked of them. We gave them one shot per possession.
Moving the ball around and getting other players involved was key for us.

In the third quarter, we went deep into our offense. We didn’t want to take early shots or bad shots. Offensively, we pushed patience. On defense, we switched it up, and it seemed to confuse them. They had some unforced errors.

Bryce is a player that enjoys big-time games against big-time competition. He’s at his best, because he’s shooting a high percentage. It’s history making. We had never gotten past this point. It was their best against our best and you overcome. It’s incredibly satisfying. I’m so proud of them, because they are so young and so coachable.”

PHS Point Guard Darius Brown II: “It feels good to avenge the finals loss. We were ready for this game more than ever and everyone stepped up to correct there mistakes. Beating them on their home court was also a huge confidence booster into our next game.”

Box Score:
PHS: 16-12-24-15-(67)
HW: 15-16-9-16-(56)

Scoring:

PHS: Hamilton 31, Brown II 20, Mason 7, Watkins 4, Morris 4, Taylor 1.

HW: Frank 15, Juzang 14, Stanley 12, Iken 8, Begel 4, Simpson 1.

Free Throws:
Pasadena: 18 of 24 (75%)
Harvard-Westlake: 9 of 14 (64%)

3-Pointers Made:
Pasadena: 5
Harvard-Westlake: 7

Records:
Pasadena: 27-6
Harvard-Westlake: 23-12

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