FAB 50 No. 31 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) upsets No. 2 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) at the Hoophall West event in Arizona to set up a Saturday championship game (9 pm MT) with still unbeaten and No. 49 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.).

With California's top three ranked clubs playing in the Nike Tournament of Champions featuring Hoophall West in Gilbert, Ariz., it was actually only one Golden State club that was featured in the event's eight-team bracket. State No. 1 and FAB 50 No. 9 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) and No. 2 and FAB 50 No. 10 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) are playing in three round-robin games at the event, so it was No. 3 and No. 31 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) that had the best opportunity to make a big splash on a national stage.

The Wolverines were at No. 31 in the latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings, primarily because of a December 61-49 loss to Timpview (Utah) on the road in Utah, but they have atoned for it big time through their first two games at Highland High School in the Southeast portion of Phoenix's greater Valley. Coach David Rebibo's club two games so far are not only great momentum builders in its quest for a never-before-accomplished third consecutive CIF Open Division state championship in California, but also a swoon for all top-rated California clubs.

That's because Harvard-Westlake upset FAB 50 No. 2 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), 66-63, in Friday's semifinals in a terrific game that came down to the wire. That came on the heels of its 57-54 first round victory over No. 12 Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.) on Thursday evening and those two results will certainly shake up the next FAB 50 update on Jan. 6.

Harvard-Westlake will take its 17-1 record into Saturday's Hoophall West championship game at 9 pm (MT) at Highland (Gilbert, Ariz.) against another California club, No. 49 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), in what could be a preview of the 2025 CIF open state title game which is always a North vs. South affair.

Gonzaga, one of the nation's best programs as part of the powerful Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC), made only 9-of-26 field goals and had nine turnovers to Harvard-Westlake's three and still led 25-23 at halftime. It was only a matter of time before the Purple Eagles' effort started to show up on the scoreboard. They went on 8-0 run to take a 33-27 lead over Harvard-Westlake with 5:47 to go in the 3rd period and led by as many as nine points in the quarter.

From there on, Harvard-Westlake matched each of Gonzaga's shots and got two crucial 3-pointers from junior (2026) shooting guard Joe Sterling the rest of the way to help seal the upset win. Sterling hit a big 3-pointer to cut Harvard Westlake's deficit to one-point (42-41) and it trialed Gonzaga 44-43 after three periods.

The team's traded baskets seemingly each possession for half of the final period until Harvard-Westlake finally broke the game open a bit, as much as a game of this caliber could be. Two free throws with 3:14 remaining gave the two-time defending CIF open champs a 57-52 lead, but Gonzaga (11-2) didn't go down without a fight. After getting to within 57-56, Duke-bound Nik Khamenia came up with the offensive play of the game after a beautifully-run after timeout set (ATO) from Rebibo. The play resulted in a wing 3-pointer from Harvard-Westlake's best player and a 60-56 lead. After Harvard-Westlake secured a rebound, Sterling came up with his third and final 3-pointer of the game from the top of the key with 1:05 remaining to give Harvard-Westlake a 63-56 lead.

A couple of backcourt miscues by the Wolverines gave Gonzaga a glimmer of hope after Sterling's big 3-point hit, but two missed free throw and the inability to secure a rebound off a free throw miss by Harvard-Westlake's Amir Jones with Gonzaga trialing by one possession with 18 seconds remaining sealed its fate and handed the Purple Eagles' its second loss. The other was in triple overtime to current FAB 50 No. 1 Columbus (Miami, Fla.).

Sterling led all scorers with 19 points and added five assists. Khamenia added 16 points and four assists despite shooting 1-of-5 from 3-point range. Credit must also be given to the defensive job 6-foot-9 junior Barron Linnekens (8 points) did on Gonzaga's star pivot Christian Gurdak down the stretch. The Virginia Tech-bound big man finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds, but Linnekens made his presence felt just enough to help his team into Saturday's title game.

Gonzaga got 18 points from North Carolina-bound Derek Dixon, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, and 14 points from Xavier-bound point guard Nyk Lewis.

Arizona high school basketball fans were disappointed big-time when Perry fell to the Wolverines on Thursday evening after hometown star Koa Peat's last ditch 3-point heave was off target at the buzzer. Never mind Peat didn't realize he could have taken a one or two more dribbles towards half court before shooting, local hoop fans should be more disappointed Perry had to meet a team of Harvard-Westlake's caliber in the first round.

Peat, one of the nation's top unsigned players who has led Perry to three straight Arizona state titles in the highest classification, finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds as the local club suffered its first loss of the season. Peat shot 6-of-20 from the field.

Khamenia only made 1-of-7 field goals in the first half, but his two 3-pointers in the third period put Harvard-Westlake up for good. Khamenia finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. No other Harvard-Westlake player netted double figures in a game that came down to the last possession. Again, Harvard-Westlake's defense was key in the second half and it hopes to put forth another fine defensive effort on Saturday against yet another formidable foe.

Harvard Westlake's opponent in the championship game will be a team looking to make a national splash while remaining focused on its quest to represent Northern California in the CIF open championship game on March 15. That team is De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), which came into the New Year's event ranked No. 49 in the latest FAB 50. The Spartans have slowly been building this season to this event when it had a terrific opportunity to make the title game with the other three heavyweights in the eight-team field on the opposite side of the bracket. They made the most of their opportunity in the Valley of the Sun behind the play of senior forward Alec Blair, arguably the nation's best basketball-baseball combo athlete.

The 6-foot-7 Blair, who is committed to Oklahoma for both sports, certainly had a hand in De La Salle's Friday semifinal victory over Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) but it was the team's tremendous defensive effort that made the difference. The Spartans held Chaminade to nine points in the final period in its 58-48 victory.

Blair converted back-to-back buckets to give De La Salle a 52-42 lead with 2:45 to go in the game and it held on from there after trialing 15-14 after one period. The second period was also crucial, as the Spartans outscored Chaminade, 18-10.

"We did a great job late in that game guarding a really good Chaminade team," De La Salle coach Marcus Schroeder told Ballislife. "We kept them out of transition and made them take some tough, contested shots late which helped us get some separation in the fourth quarter.

"Harvard-Westlake obviously has been the best program in the state of California the past two years, winning back-to-back (CIF) State Open Championships. We are excited for the challenge."

Blair finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, as he is certainly one of the best passing forwards in the country. Fast-rising junior (2026) point guard Ibrahim Monawar made 4-of-5 field goals and 6-of-7 free throws for 14 points. He is making tremendous strides in his play-making and shot making and is as fast with the ball as any junior guard we've seen in Northern California.

De La Salle (14-0), whose best win so far is a 61-57 victory over state No. 11 Santa Margarita in the championship game of its own Chris Vontoure Classic, posted a 65-62 first round victory over a battle-tested Duncanville (Texas) club that began its season ranked No. 47 in the FAB 50. The game wasn't secured for the Spartans until Duncanville's Bug Edwards missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with just over one second remaining in the contest.

Blair finished with 21 points, while 6-foot-6 senior (2025) strongman David Balogun added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans. Monawar added 13 points.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores