Harvard-Westlake basketball faces gauntlet of a week with Hoophall Classic, Mission League
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS - The heart of Harvard-Westlake's season lies in the upcoming week.
The defending CIF State Open Division champions will travel to Springfield, Mass. to play in the Spalding Hoophall Classic against McEachern of Georgia on ESPNU (11 a.m. ET) before a quick turnaround to play Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks in a Mission League tilt at home Wednesday night.
Then play at Sierra Canyon - another league foe - Friday night.
"We’re approaching Monday like a league game,” Harvard-Westlake coach David Rebibo said. “We've prepared and it’s the best showcase in the country. We've earned the right to be invited and we want to put our best foot forward."
McEachern is led by Airious “Ace” Bailey, a 5-star, 6-foot-8 forward ranked the No. 3 player in the country for 2024.
Monday’s game will mark the first time Harvard-Westlake’s program has ever played in the Hoophall.
“These opportunity are unique and special, especially because we are playing on national TV,” Rebibo added.
The team will leave back for Los Angeles Monday evening, and that’s when the week really begins knowing Notre Dame and Sierra Canyon will be waiting.
“It’s not completely unfamiliar,” Rebibo said. “We played at the Les Schwab Invitational (Oregon) and played four straight days at 8 o’clock at night, and played really, really good teams.”
“We’ve prepared for this.”
Harvard-Westlake (19-1) is pegged as a CIF Southern Section Open Division and CIF State favorite due to its core returners headlined by USC commit Trent Perry, star junior Nik Khamenia and senior guard Robert Hinton (Harvard).
A loss in the Hoophall Classic won't weigh too heavily on Open Division playoff seedings, but the 6,000-mile roundtrip before the two biggest league games of the year could impact a result. If the Wolverines fall in one or both of those league games, it could impact seeding.
However, with the way the Mission League schedule is set up - each team just playing one time - the year-end tournament could redeem any losses Harvard-Westlake might experience this coming week.
The Mission League tournament will be played Jan. 29-Feb. 2.
