California's No. 1 high school basketball team finds third for monster trio in hunt of another state title

Harvard-Westlake's Isaiah Carroll has emerged as a major impact player in the Wolverines' hunt for historic third consecutive CIF State Open Division crown.
Harvard-Westlake senior Isaiah Carroll is emerging as a top player for the two-time defending CIF State Open Division champs.
Harvard-Westlake senior Isaiah Carroll is emerging as a top player for the two-time defending CIF State Open Division champs. / Nic Monroe

SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA — Welp, here we are again.

The Harvard-Westlake boys basketball team is nearing the postseason as one of the favorites to win a CIF State Open Division crown — for a third consecutive time.

The Wolverines (22-1) are the two-time defending champions, so the pedigree is there with coach David Rebibo at the helm, the return of Duke commit Nik Khamenia, and the insertion of sharpshooting transfer Joe Sterling from Crespi.

But it was fair to ask: Is it enough to win it all again? With senior wing Isaiah Carroll emerging as a top player, the answer is yes.

"I've been putting the work in," Carroll said. "I always knew I was capable."

The biggest indicator of that came in the Wolverines' 73-63 win over Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks on the road Friday night when Carroll scored 10 of his 18 points in first quarter. He also provided a corner 3-pointer that served as a dagger with two minutes to play.

"He won us the game tonight," Khamenia said of Carroll.

Carroll, who says he's 6-foot-6 and 180 pounds, has officially seated himself as part of Harvard-Westlake's 'big three', which makes things scary for other top-notch programs in the Southland vying for the CIF Southern Section Open Division crown and CIF State Open Division title.

Recent history has shown, it takes at least three impact players to win it all. Sierra Canyon had Cassius Stanley, KJ Martin and Scotty Pippen Jr. (two years in a row). Corona Centennial had Jared McCain, Donovan Dent and Aaron McBride. Harvard-Westlake had Brady Dunlap, Jacob Huggins, Trent Perry, Robert Hinton and Khamenia the last two years.

"He's certainly one of three players that can step up on any given night as a third guy," Rebibo said of Carroll. "Amir Jones and Dom Bentho have shown they can do it, too."

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Isaiah Carroll dunks the ball against Crespi at home. / Nic Monroe

Despite Rebibo's sentiments, Carroll's length, size, athleticism, and shooting ability makes him a more consistent contributor to this Harvard-Westlake program eyeing a historic third straight state championship in the Open Division era, which has never been done.

"He's a great 3 and D guy," Rebibo said. "He's a winner, a leader and a great teammate. His best basketball is ahead of him."

Carroll's college recruitment has picked up significantly since the summer.

"Cal Poly (SLO) offered my after Section 7 and since then I've been talking to Massachusetts, Howard, San Francisco, Seattle, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton and Cal Baptist. They've all reached out to me or coach."

Harvard-Westlake has three games left on the schedule, including January 28's Mission League showdown with Sierra Canyon at home. The Wolverines will begin Open Division playoff competition on February 14, where the journey to more hardware will truly begin.


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Tarek Fattal, SBLive Sports
TAREK FATTAL

Tarek Fattal has been covering high school sports since 2015 in Southern California and primarily in Los Angeles, covering notable athletes such as Bronny James, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alyssa Thompson. He was with the LA Daily News for eight years, which included being the beat reporter for the UCLA men's basketball team. Tarek can be seen on TV regularly on CBS/KCAL as a sports analyst with Jim Hill.