Harvard-Westlake rolls to win over Sierra Canyon, which plays without two standouts

The red and black streamed in from the hills, chants of “Har-vard West-lake” rattling throughout the Wolverines’ gym in Studio City, ready to explode in a Mission League matchup that the Southland had been anticipating all season.

The student section carried copies of the school newspaper, the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle. And during Sierra Canyon’s pregame introductions, the Wolverines fans held them over their faces as if to say — in the paraphrasing of one student — they didn’t care what assortment of talent the notorious Trailblazers had to offer.

Except two of their biggest stars weren’t in Sierra Canyon’s starting lineup.

Earlier on Friday, Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier texted head of school Jim Skrumbis that his two top scorers, senior Bronny James and junior Isaiah Elohim, were out because of injuries.

“If you want to take the night off and go to a nice dinner …” Chevalier texted, according to Skrumbis.

Friday night’s game was the biggest of the season, a sellout away crowd forming DMV-level lines outside the ticket booth that morning, anticipating a showdown between two of Los Angeles’ most elite prep schools. But without James and Elohim, the night offered little intrigue beyond the first quarter in a 72-52 win for Harvard-Westlake.

“It’s us against Sierra Canyon, not us against Bronny and Isaiah,” Harvard-Westlake shotmaker extraordinaire Brady Dunlap said.

Sierra Canyon’s Majok Chuol (13, on floor) battles Harvard-Westlake’s Nikolas Khamenia (4) and Christian Horry (15) for the ball.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

So the Wolverines dropped heavy exclamation point after exclamation point, starting first when Trent Perry dribbled into a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the first half to extend a lead to 34-20.

Eight minutes later, Dunlap, a 6-foot-7 senior, pulled up over a host of Trailblazers to bank in a miraculous three-pointer to end the third quarter. The Wolverines turned on Globetrotters mode in the fourth quarter, Jacob Huggins stuffing in an alley-oop and Robert Hinton following with a slam the next possession. With a couple of minutes remaining, the student section serenaded Wolverines coach David Rebibo with a rendition of “Happy birthday,” a nod to the steadfast program leader turning 39 on Friday.

A Sierra Canyon team that normally prides itself on its crisp defensive rotations simply looked defeated. Dunlap put on a clinic Friday, dropping in tough buckets from the midrange and burying four three-pointers en route to 20 points. Perry added 15.

“They threw a little face-guard at me,” Dunlap said. “To be honest with you, I give all the credit to my teammates for finding me. There have been a lot of games in the past where I get face-guarded, they don’t look for me.”

Senior Memphis commit Ashton Hardaway dropped in six three-pointers and 20 points for Sierra Canyon, but it wasn’t enough. James, Sierra Canyon’s heartbeat and senior leader, was held out for a second consecutive game while resting a knee injury. Elohim, meanwhile, had a flareup of a knee problem that shut him down last season.

The news of their absence was a surprise, Skrumbis receiving the text just a few hours before tip, a fan muttering to another on the way out, “I wanted to see LeBron’s son.” Perry, for one, mentioned he was a “little bit” disappointed to not be playing against James and Elohim.

The Trailblazers looked timid offensively for much of the night without their two top scorers. Chevalier repeatedly jumped up and down and screamed “Shoot it!” at Sierra Canyon players who passed up open looks.

“You need Bron-ny!” chanted Harvard-Westlake fans at the start of the fourth quarter.

Sierra Canyon pulled it off without James against St. Francis on Wednesday. But the loss of him and Elohim against Harvard-Westlake proved too much.