DONS WIN WITH BALANCE

It was obvious from the opening tip that the stars — Harvard-westlake’s five-star Kiki Iriafen, the No. 5 junior in the country, and Cathedral Catholic’s Ice Brady, a Uconn commit who is the No. 3-ranked sophomore in the country — were going to cancel each other out.

So it was up to someone else to step up and win the game.

That someone was Cathedral Catholic guard Izzy Navarro, who scored seven points in the fourth quarter, including a steal and basket with 20 seconds to play, that

propelled the host Dons to a 59-56 win over Harvard-westlake in the Southern California Regional Division I basketball semifinals Saturday.

The top-seeded Dons (2111) will host Fullerton Rosary on Tuesday for a berth in the state championships.

“Coach told me to go and get it, be aggressive, make plays,” said Navarro, who finished with 12 points. “We picked up the energy when we had to.

“Harvard-westlake is a really big, physical team. Fast. But we expected to win.”

Iriafen finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Wildcats.

Brady scored 16 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked a pair of shots.

“We trust Ice one-on-one,” said Cathedral coach Jackie Turpin. “Her play allows our guards to go to work.

“Izzy didn’t just show up big in the fourth quarter. Her play across the board — running the team, passing — was huge. She made a lot of really smart plays.

“That was a very good team we beat. I knew we were in for a fight.

“So I’m super proud of this group.”

Kimiko Katzaroff finished with 14 points for the fourthseeded Wildcats (25-9), making all five fourth-quarter free throws.

Mazatlan Harris scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Dons.

Elsewhere

Division II: No. 6 Mater Dei Catholic dropped a 60-55 decision at No. 2 Palisades.

Division IV: No. 12 Point Loma fell at No. 1 Lancaster 51-44.

john.maffei@sduniontribune.com