This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

University High Boys Hoops Reaches City Final

The host Wildcats escape with a 44-42 semifinal victory over San Pedro.

Being the No. 1 seed in the City Section Division II playoffs, the University High boys basketball team was expected to reach the finals. Sure enough, the Wildcats have made it, but the road has been anything but easy. 

Just as it did in the first two rounds of the playoffs against LA Marshall and Bell, University (25-8) had to overcome adversity in order to advance, only this time the Wildcats were the team that started fast.

In the end, it took free throws by David Nwaba and Breamon Richard and a stop on defense to stave off 12th-seeded San Pedro, 44-42.

Find out what's happening in Brentwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

University advanced to the championship game for the fourth straight year and will try to capture its first title since 2008. The Wildcats lost to San Pedro 67-49 in the final last season, so Thursday's win served as a measure of revenge.

University will play second-seeded Harbor City Narbonne (21-8) at 8 p.m. on March 4 at Roybal Learning Center. 

Find out what's happening in Brentwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Narbonne routed third-seeded El Camino Real 64-38 in Thursday night's other semifinal. "Being the No. 1 seed is nice, it gives you home court, but it also means you're going to get everyone's best shot," University head coach Steve Ackerman said after Tuesday's quarterfinal win. "If you don't play well, sooner or later it's going to cost you."

Poor play in spurts nearly cost the Wildcats Thursday night, despite them taking a 13-6 first-quarter lead and holding a 21-19 lead at halftime. The Pirates (11-18) led by three points going into the fourth quarter and seemed poised for the upset.

Nwaba scored 17 points and had nine rebounds but got to the free throw stripe only once (making one of two attempts). Andrew May added nine points and 12 rebounds and Tony Sodnompunsum also had nine points for the Wildcats, who clipped Narbonne 60-59 in the semifinals last winter.

Nwaba's free throw gave University a one-point lead with 16 seconds left. After the Wildcats got an offensive rebound, Richard was fouled and made one of his two shots to provide the final margin.

The Wildcats fell to Reseda, 79-66, in the 2009 final and beat Eagle Rock, 48-41, to capture the crown the year before. They have knocked Narbonne out of the tournament the last two years.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?