Harvard-Westlake girls basketball team hits stride in second half, scoring 17 straight points to prevail against Rialto in CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoff opener

STUDIO CITY – Bella Spencer and Deana Thompson were so focused on stopping the Rialto High girls basketball team at the defensive end that the Harvard-Westlake seniors didn’t even recognize the magnitude of the offensive surge the fourth-seeded Wolverines produced in the second half Thursday night in the opening round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

As for the visiting Knights, it was a stretch of 3 minutes, 30 seconds they wanted to try to forget as quickly as possible, although the experience was one that would likely be revisited several times during not only their trip home, but throughout the offseason.

Harvard-Westlake closed out the third quarter in impressive fashion and continued to build momentum early in the fourth, scoring 17 unanswered points to pull away and secure a 71-45 victory, with the Wolverines (21-6) advancing to a second-round showdown Saturday at Santa Margarita (18-10).

Post-game interviews

The Eagles prevailed by a 56-47 margin against Redondo Union in Thursday’s playoff opener.

Carrington Davis’ layup cut the Harvard-Westlake lead to a 43-37 advantage with 40 seconds left in the third.

By the time Davis scored again for Rialto (22-5) with 5:10 remaining in the fourth, five Wolverines had combined to produce the final five points of the third, in addition to 12 in a row to open the final quarter.

Thompson contributed five of her game-high 22 points during the impressive run for Harvard-Westlake, which also included a 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer by Keira Dhaliwal, in addition to another 3-point field goal early in the fourth by Hollen Vann, four points from Valentina Guerrero and a basket by Spencer.

Dhaliwal’s 3-pointer increased the advantage to an 11-point margin at the end of the third quarter and the lead increased to 60-37, before Davis finally ended the drought for Rialto, which had its 11-game winning streak snapped.

Destiny Rabino, who tied the score at 29-29 with a 3-point field goal in the opening minute of the second half, didn’t make another 3-pointer until the final minute of the contest, which accounted for the final margin for the Wolverines.

After Guerrero, who was one of four Harvard-Westlake players in double figures with 13 points, made the lone 3-pointer in the first half for the Wolverines, the reigning Division 2 state champions hit a combined four 3-point field goals during the final two quarters.

Spencer, who missed Harvard-Westlake’s postseason run last year recovering from an ACL injury, scored 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter in her return to postseason competition.

Spencer’s final basket with 1:05 remaining gave Harvard-Westlake a 30-point advantage, the biggest lead of the contest.

Vann had nine of her 11 points in the second half for the Wolverines, who rebounded following a 67-61 overtime loss Feb. 4 against Marlborough School in the Mission League tournament to conclude the regular season.

Davis, a UC Davis-bound senior guard, and junior point guard Jackie Polk both scored 15 points apiece for Rialto, which managed only two field goals and eight points in the final quarter.

Polk, who had 11 points in the first half to help the Knights remain within striking distance at 29-26 at the break, was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

It marked the first meeting among the schools since Rialto produced a 76-60 victory against the Wolverines in the regional semifinals of the 2011 Division 2 state playoffs.