Wolverines Cut Oxnard Down to Size, 59-47

Greg Hilliard sized up matters after his undersized Harvard-Westlake High team defeated Oxnard, 59-47, in pool play of the Thousand Oaks boys’ basketball tournament on Tuesday night.

“This is a guard-oriented tournament and we still have our guards,” Hilliard said. “There’s nobody who’s really big.”

That includes the Wolverines (2-0), who won despite the absence of 6-8 center Dan Kinzer, who is sidelined indefinitely because of a stress fracture in his hip.

Forwards Alex Holmes and Spencer Torgan, who will play for the Wolverines in the Southern Southern Division XII football final on Saturday night, won’t join the basketball team until next week.

With only one player taller than 6-2, Harvard-Westlake turned to hustle and timely outside shooting from guards Alex Minn and Russell Lakey, and forward Charles Gillig, the Wolverines’ tallest player in uniform at 6-6.

Minn, a 6-2 senior, scored 14 points for Harvard-Westlake, 11 in the second half, including a 30-foot swish at the third-quarter buzzer to cap a 16-6 run that gave the Wolverines a 38-31 lead.

Minn connected on four short jump shots in the fourth quarter to keep Oxnard (3-2) at bay.

“We’ve got to step it up and get guys to rebound,” Minn said. “We’re getting outboarded every game.”

Oxnard led much of the first half and 25-22 at halftime. But the Yellowjackets made only three of 11 shots in the third quarter.

Harvard-Westlake moved ahead to stay, 32-29, on Lakey’s three-pointer midway through the third quarter.

Damian Tafoya scored 15 points for Oxnard.