Gardena wins City Section Division II boys’ final

Dushone Brown made two game-changing three-point field goals in the fourth quarter and finished with 20 points to help sixth-seeded Gardena knock off top-seeded Granada Hills Kennedy, 55-47, in the City Section Division II boys’ basketball final Friday night at Roybal.

Brown’s three-pointer with 6 minutes 4 seconds left gave Gardena (17-13) a 41-32 lead.

When Kennedy (27-7) closed to within 44-40 with two minutes left, Brown delivered another three-pointer to end the Golden Cougars’ momentum.

“It was our destiny to win it,” the 6-foot-4 Brown said.

Dom Vargas finished with 18 points and Chris Gonzalez 14 for Kennedy, which fell behind 23-19 at halftime.

Division II girls

A 24-point, 15-rebound performance from 6-foot center Danielle Ward propelled No. 3-seeded Granada Hills to a 51-43 overtime victory over No. 1-seeded Westchester in the City Section Division II girls’ championship game at Roybal.

With the game tied at 43 and 1:03 left in overtime, Ward scored on a layup off an inbounds play, was fouled and made the free throw. The Highlanders (22-8) never looked back, scoring the final eight points of the overtime period for Coach Lou Cicciari.

“It’s unbelievable,” Cicciari said. “We weren’t picked to win. I told this team many times I believed in this team. They had to believe in themselves.”

Ahteana Jones led Westchester (27-8) with 17 points.

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