The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Roosevelt looks forward to getting one more shot at Harvard-westlake
The Roosevelt boys basketball team took its first step down Redemption Road with a dominant victory over Santa Maria St. Joseph on Saturday night.
The next stop is Studio City and a rematch with Harvard-westlake in the CIF State Open Division regional championship game tonight at 8.
Roosevelt has been down this road before. The team’s first two losses came to Jserra and Centennial, but the Mustangs got their revenge against both teams later in the season. Roosevelt now looks to avenge that 54-47 loss to Harvardwestlake in the CIF Southern Section Open Division title game.
“We set a goal after that loss to see them again. We have accomplished the first part of our mission,” Roosevelt coach Stephen Singleton said following Saturday’s 58-41 victory over St. Joseph in the regional semifinals. “We will need to be at our best, and it is going to take a lot of discipline on our part.”
The section championship went down to the wire, but the Mustangs’ hopes for a come-from-behind victory were dashed when they were called for a foul on a rebound attempt with 15 seconds remaining. Harvard-westlake made four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
The foul call caused some bitter feelings, but the Mustangs also know they did not deliver their best effort in that championship game. Roosevelt made only 15 of 50 shots (30%) from the field against Harvard-westlake, and a 7-for-27 shooting effort (25.9%) in the opening half made it an uphill battle.
“We really beat ourselves that night,” junior forward Brayden Burries said. “We made a bunch of unforced errors and took a lot of bad shots.”
Singleton said his players will need to dictate the tempo and not force shots to win tonight’s rematch against the Wolverines.
“Hopefully, we will be focused and get a different outcome this time,” Singleton said. “It is going to take everyone being locked in from start to finish.”
Burries delivered another memorable performance Saturday night against St. Joseph, registering game highs of 29 points and eight rebounds to lead the Mustangs to the victory. Burries made 10 of 17 shots from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and also sank 6 of 7 free throws.
Harvard-westlake, the defending Open Division state champion, had some nervous moments during its regional semifinal game. The Wolverines trailed Carlsbad by as many as 13 points in the opening half. Mcdonald’s All-american Trent Perry scored 42 points to spur a 73-72 come-from-behind victory.
Roosevelt senior guard Darnez Slater, who scored 18 points in the first matchup against Harvardwestlake, is looking forward to the rematch.
“It should be another great game Tuesday,” Slater said.
“We just need to play our game and correct the mistakes that hurt us down the stretch.”