Windward boys basketball tops Heritage Christian in overtime: 3 observations

NORTH HILLS -- In a game with a blue chip point guard on each side, Windward beat Heritage Christian in overtime 73-70 on Saturday. This was the first meeting at the high school level between Windward's Dylan Andrews and Heritage Christian's Skyy Clark; the sophomores went toe to toe all afternoon. Clark led all scorers with 35 in defeat and Andrews led Windward with 28. Below are three observations from Saturday's game.

SLOPPY FINAL MOMENTS

Leading by one with under a minute to play in overtime, Windward threw an inbounds pass out of bounds. On the ensuing Heritage Christian inbounds play, Clark turned the ball over and the Warriors had to foul.

Following two made free throws from Andrews, Heritage Christian got two good looks at a potential game-tying three but missed both.

"Both teams had great opportunities to win and both tried to give it away too," Windward head coach Colin Pfaff said. "That was a fun game."

OPEN DIVISION IMPLICATIONS

Both of these teams have a chance to make the Southern Section Open Division playoffs. Here's what today's result means:

Following their loss, Heritage Christian doesn't have an opportunity for a marquee win the rest of the regular season. They'll most likely stay in Division 2AA.

Windward was firmly a Division 1 team heading into Saturday and while this win certainly helps their resume, it will likely take a future victory over Corona Centennial or Sierra Canyon in the regular season to push the Wildcats into the top playoff division.

Sierra Canyon, Rancho Christian, Corona Centennial, Etiwanda, Harvard-Westlake, St. Anthony, St. John Bosco and JSerra all have better resumes at the moment.

MORE ON ANDREWS AND CLARK DUEL

Pfaff called Andrews' performance "spectacular" and Clark's wasn't far behind. The sophomore class in boys basketball in Southern California is loaded and Andrews and Clark are two of the pillars. Saturday's game was a high level high school basketball game run by two dominant sophomores. The scoring speaks for itself, but these two possess so many other great attributes.

Andrews is a complete point guard. He consistently makes smart passes and is great in transition. Clark is a tremendous three-point shooter with incredible handles. When these two take the court it's must see TV, especially when they're going head to head.

With Andrews and Clark being sophomores, we can only hope Heritage Christian and Windward meet multiple times in the future.