Ben Shtolzberg raised his arms triumphantly 6.5 seconds before the end. Three frustrating seasons of losing to Studio City Harvard-Westlake were nearing the end. Two seasons of dealing with a pandemic were forgotten for a moment. Five weeks of overcoming a shoulder injury were overcome.
“I was acquitted two days ago,” said Shtolzberg. “I played real basketball for two days.”
It was an unforgettable night for Shtolzberg and his teammates from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Friday evening. They stunned No. 3 Harvard-Westlake 71-61 on the Wolverines home course, with Shtolzberg taking his team’s first 12 points in the fourth quarter, ending with 28 points.
Notre Dame (15-3, 2-0) is suddenly in the driver’s seat to win the Mission League. Harvard-Westlake (14-2, 0-1) are trying to figure out what went wrong after opening a 10-point lead in the third quarter. Dusty Stromer contributed 20 points and Dante Ogbu had 16 points for the Knights. Notre Dame coach Matt Sargeant had won 7-0 against the Wolverines.
Shtolzberg, a Creighton obligor, took over the game in the fourth quarter. He either scored with a threesome or was fouled and converted free throws (he made a total of 12 of 13 free throws). Trent Perry scored 17 points and Brady Dunlap had 15 points.
The fact that the two teams are playing at such a high level in a week of uncertainty gives hope for the future. Dozens of games have been postponed or canceled this week.
Talks have begun across the state on what to do if the surge in coronavirus cases results in more games being canceled or postponed. Santa Barbara Unified paused all after-school activities Thursday through next week and is reassessed weekly. Montebello Unified has suspended sporting activities until January 17th. The Southern Section postponed their traditional Competitive Competitive Cheer Championships for a month after too many teams had to resign due to positive cases.
California Interscholastic Federation executive director Ron Nocetti said the ten section commissioners will be videoconferencing next week to discuss ideas for the future. “Our office said from the start that we would be flexible about state and regional events,” said Nocetti.
Southern Department Commissioner Rob Wigod said: “We are talking and continuing to monitor. Our goal is how we can move forward effectively in a healthy and safe way and have all the options. “
Harvard-Westlake players are fully vaccinated and tested four times this week. The Wolverines lost two opponents this week and are four games behind after taking their own 10-day hiatus on health and safety logs. “When we started playing last year, there weren’t any 37,000 positive cases in Los Angeles County,” said coach David Rebibo.
“We keep playing while everything is going crazy and the schedules change daily. It’s really stressful. “
The uncertainty brings back bad memories of the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when some students lost entire seasons.
“It’s a very scary time for them and they’re a little freaked out and it’s really important to be able to do this,” said Rebibo. “Our players are incredibly resilient. We are thrilled to be able to play and compete. “
Boys basketball
Loyola 75, Bishop Alemany 38: Jalen Cox scored 20 points to lead the Cubs in their Mission League opener.
Dominguez 74, Gahr 49: Franklyn Chambers scored 21 points and Isaac Sowell had 21 rebounds for Dominguez.
Paramount 39, Downey 38: Cameron Norman finished with 15 points and Spencer Ezewiro had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Paramount.
JSerra 63, St. John Bosco 52: Lions have overcome Trinity League frustration. Aidan Fowler scored 21 points.
Mater Dei 66, Orange Lutheran 58: Kaden Minter had 13 points and Zack Davidson added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Monarchs.
Foothill 80, Esperanza 54: The Knights improved to 16-1. Jake Horton and Carlo Billings each had 15 points.
Venice 48, Val Gardena 42: The gondoliers have won the San Fernando Valley Tournament. Sophomore Tyler Hunt was tournament MVP after scoring 20 points.
Riverside Poly 61, Valley View 47: Newbie Brayden Burries scored 26 points for 17-1 poly.
Calabasas 65, Oaks Christian 32: Gavin Murphy had 15 points for the Coyotes.
Birmingham 80, Canyon Country Canyon 56: Larry Olayinka scored 16 points and Brooklyn Caldwell had 15 points for the Patriots.
Girls basketball
Sierra Canyon 101, Highland 35: Juju Watkins scored 26 points and MacKenly Randolph had 21 points.
Boys soccer
Moorpark 1, Camarillo 0: Justin Conyers scored the only goal that helped Moorpark improve to 11-0.
Servite 7, Santa Margarita 0: The brothers (9-2-1, 2-0) cruised in the Trinity League game.
Girls soccer
Oak Park 3, Simi Valley 0: Emma Rale had two assists.
Comments are closed.