Fairfax pulls off overtime win against Westchester in boys' basketball

At 15 years old, sophomore point guard David Mack of Fairfax is being asked to do big things on the basketball court even though he's also doing on-the-job training. That means mistakes will happen.

"Everyone makes mistakes," he said. "I just have to keep playing."

He made a couple of errors at the end of regulation Monday against rival Westchester, but he also came through in overtime by making three free throws and a basket to lift Fairfax (7-6, 4-0) to a 54-49 overtime victory over the Comets in a Western League game. He finished with 11 points.

"You have to keep doing it over and over, and it will pay off eventually," said Mack, who is one his way to one day becoming the latest All-City point guard for the Lions.

Westchester (9-6, 1-3) trailed by seven points with seven minutes left in regulation. That's when junior Prince Clay got the Comets back into the game by making three three-pointers. With 23.9 seconds left and the Comets down by two points, Mack stole the ball but missed a layup attempt. Westchester came down and tied the score on a basket by Angel Corona. Mack missed another hurried shot at the end of regulation.

In overtime, Mack took charge to give the Lions a two-game sweep of the Comets in league play this season.

Fairfax has been playing close games while its young players gain experience. There are still two league games ahead against much-improved Venice that will decide the league title.

"We fought to be 4-0," Fairfax coach Reggie Morris Jr. said. "We're young and trying to figure it out, and COVID doesn't help you when you go on pauses and can't practice and play games. It's new, and you have to be flexible and adaptable."

Freshman Hudson Mays finished with 13 points for Fairfax. Corona had 14 points for Westchester.

Venice 55, LACES 52: The Gondoliers improved to 6-0 in the Western League. Sophomore Tyler Hunt had 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Taft 58, Chatsworth 57: A.J. Johnson scored 16 points to help Taft (13-3, 2-0) pull out a West Valley League victory. Jordan Collins made four three-pointers. Jamaal Unuwahkulu finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds for Chatsworth.

Corona Centennial 62, Riverside Poly 37: The Huskies showed they are a clear No. 1 team in Southern California after routing Poly. Donovan Dent scored 20 points, and Jared McCain had 19. Poly is 21-2. Centennial is 21-1.

Paramount 63, Lynwood 45: Spencer Ezewiro collected 13 points and 11 rebounds for Paramount, which is 5-1 in the San Gabriel Valley League.

Newbury Park 50, Agoura 42: Aidan Bell had 14 points and 15 rebounds for Agoura in its Marmonte League debut after it missed games because of COVID-19.

Sun Valley Poly 54, Arleta 48: Nicholas Romeo Mendoza had 17 points for the Parrots.

Grant 85, North Hollywood 47: Jeremiah Windham finished with 14 points.

Girls' basketball

Mater Dei 62, Orange Lutheran 47: Caia Elisaldez had 18 points and Lani White 16 for the Monarchs.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.