ONTARIO — Effort is the age-old deciding factor in sports.
Sierra Canyon has it.
Sierra Canyon senior guard JJ Sati-Greier was at the free-throw line and his team was up by four points with under 10 seconds left Saturday night. Harvard-Westlake fans were screaming for the Wolverines to box out, knowing how crucial a potential miss could be for them.
Grier missed his free throw, and effort took over from there.
Sierra Canyon senior forward Brannon Martinsen secured the rebound and was fouled. After his trip to the line, just moments later, the final buzzer sounded and the Sierra Canyon celebration commenced.
The Trailblazers beat Harvard-Westlake 59-53 on Saturday night at Toyota Arena to win the CIF-SS Open Division championship.
“I saw JJ’s shot kind of rimming around, and I knew Maxi (Adams) was gonna get his hand on it,” Martinsen said. “That’s just what he does. I just knew if I followed it and cleaned up, I’d get it.”
It wasn’t just the effort Martinsen played with that made a different, it was his conviction. He trusted what he saw on the floor, and he wound up leading Sierra Canyon with a team-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
He was one of three Trailblazers to finish in double-digit scoring. Brandon McCoy and Adams had 13 and 12 points, respectively.
None of the three forced anything on the offensive end. They had trust in their teammates.
“We’ve built a team and had some practices just making the right play,” McCoy said. “It’s not an issue. We have great players, but great players also make great plays.”
Sierra Canyon head coach Andre Chevalier employed various half-court traps in the first half. In the second half, he had his team in a full-court press.
The Trailblazers showed they had the versatility to execute it.
The different defensive looks caused Harvard-Westlake problems. The Wolverines scored only seven points in the second quarter and had 13 turnovers in the game.
“In this game, we knew we couldn’t let them run their sets,” Chevalier said. “They’re great in their execution. They have shooters, so we try to do whatever we can to make them uncomfortable.”
Harvard-Westlake senior Joe Sterling led the way with 18 points, but he struggled to find any consistent space throughout the game.
Junior guard Pierce Thopmson had 15 points and made some vital shots for the Wolverines.
The Trailblazers’ defensive length gave Harvard-Westlake issues. But despite the different defensive looks, the Wolverines hung in to keep the game close.
“Incredibly proud of our fight, our willingness to play and play for each other,” Harvard-Westlake head coach David Rebibo said. “(Sierra Canyon) made a lot of really good plays, and I thought they were good tonight, and they won the game. And hats off to them.”
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