In a city where the Lakers, UCLA, and now Blake Griffin consistently hog the headlines, high school basketball in Los Angeles has been relatively overlooked compared to cities like New York, Chicago, or even more recent hotbeds Seattle and Houston.
But considering that high schools in L.A. proper have produced nearly 60 NBA players — not to mention schools in the metro area like North Hollywood and Compton producing dozens of pros — Southern Cali is deserving of a little more shine.
Last night in L.A., Westchester and Fairfax, two of the city’s powerhouse programs, went head-to-head. Both schools have an impressive list of alumni: Trevor Ariza, Amir Johnson, Hassan Adams and Gabe Pruitt all went to Westchester, while Fairfax has cranked out Craig Smith, Chris Mills and Renardo Sidney in years past.
On Thursday, in front of a star-studded crowd at Westchester H.S., the Comets knocked off their crosstown rivals, 58-46.
Westchester led by double-digits in the second quarter before Fairfax junior guard Landon Drew — younger brother of University of North Carolina point guard Larry Drew II and son of Atlanta Hawks head coach Larry Drew — sparked a run to bring the Lions within two points early in the third. But then Westchester senior wing Robert Gsellman hit a three, then got a steal and a layup plus-one as the Comets ended the threat and closed it out in the fourth.
“We’re not the best team yet,” Westchester senior guard Joshua Wilson, who led a balanced offensive effort with 12 points, told the Daily Breeze. “We’re not the best we can be, so we have to keep going to practice and get better every day. And we’ve just got to play hard against everybody. … We’ve got to go out there and play hard and kill ’em.”
Fairfax was led by senior center Laik Carter‘s 21 points, while Drew added 8 points in the loss.
The rivalry game was more like an all-star event. Three members of the L.A. Clippers — Craig Smith, DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe — were in the crowd. The halftime show included a performance by up-and-coming L.A. rapper Casey Veggies, while recording artist Frei Thursday sang the national anthem. Fans from both sides were given their team’s version of Nike’s new “Los Fearless” t-shirts at the door.
Nike also used the Fairfax/Westchester game to introduce its new “traveling trophies.” Each school has a trophy that represents its home court. If you win a rivalry game on your court, you keep the trophy. Lose at home, and your rival takes the trophy to their school. Since Westchester had already beaten Fairfax at Fairfax a couple of weeks ago, after last night’s win, the Comets left the gym with both trophies and double the bragging rights.
All photos by Stephanie Meiling
