Column: Westchester prevails on late basket against Narbonne to advance to title game

Destiny Brown, a 6-foot-3 senior at Westchester, had 21 points, 26 rebounds and nine blocks Saturday in the City Section Open Division girls’ basketball final against Narbonne. And yet the Comets found themselves trailing by one point with 14.2 seconds remaining.

Coach Dominic Grimes drew up an out-of-bounds play hoping to get the ball to Brown. But Jalynn Gray smartly found a wide-open Ariana Grimes under the basket and passed her the ball. Grimes scored the winning points in Westchester’s 50-49 victory.

“She made the pass to the right person,” Brown said.

Cheayanne Whitfield supported Brown with 16points. Narbonne (16-9) got 19 points from Ja’Naiah Perkins-Jackson. The Gauchos had taken a 49-48 lead with 23 seconds left on a basket by Delilah Kimbel-Gray.

But Brown’s presence and play throughout proved too much to overcome.

Westchester (17-8) will face top-seeded Granada Hills (22-5) in Saturday’s title game at L.A. Southwest College. The Highlanders survived a strong upset challenge by West Valley League rival El Camino Real 43-41. The Conquistadores missed a late three-point attempt.

Hayley Berfield had 20 points for Granada Hills. The key basket was a three-pointer by Stephanie Ornelas with 1:45 left that gave the Highlanders a 40-38 lead. Ornelas had struggled much of the game and wasn’t confident in her shot.

“My coach told me to keep shooting,” she said.

Orelle Gelbart scored 15points for El Camino Real, which lost twice to the Highlanders in league play.

“We couldn’t finish,” El Camino Real coach Rai Colston said.

In the Division 2 semifinals, Kayla Valencia scored 20 points in Carson’s 76-47 victory over Garfield. Mercy Montgomery hit a key three with 2:13 left to break the tie and help Palisades defeat Arleta 45-39.

Southern Section

No. 1-seeded Chatsworth Sierra Canyon and No. 3-seeded Windward will get a rematch in the Southern Section Open Division final next weekend at Cal Baptist after both won close semifinal games.

Sierra Canyon got a basket from Amanda Olinger with 20 seconds left to defeat Torrance Bishop Montgomery 61-59. Ashley Chevalier and Alexis Mark each scored 17 points.

Windward beat host Etiwanda 51-49. Charisma Osborne scored 31 points.

Sierra Canyon topped Windward, the defending state champion, 66-57 in a league game Jan.15.

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Twitter: @latsondheimer