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Fairfax, and White, Get Revenge on Westchester
By Dan Arritt
Times Staff Writer

January 20, 2006

Nobody felt more ecstatic than Donovan White after visiting Los Angeles Fairfax, ranked second in the Southland by The Times, defeated fifth-ranked Westchester, 58-54, in a Western League game Wednesday night, ending a nine-game losing streak to the defending Division I state champions.

In their previous meeting, White missed a wide-open three-point shot with about 10 seconds remaining in the 2005 Southern California Regional final at the Sports Arena and Westchester won, 54-53.

"After missing that shot in the championship game, I just wanted to come out and show I could beat them," said White, a 6-foot-1 senior point guard who scored three points Wednesday against the Comets, including a game-clinching free throw with six seconds remaining.

In the regional final, the Lions held a five-point lead over Westchester with 4 minutes 35 seconds left before turning the ball over three times in the closing minutes.

On Wednesday, it was the Comets (13-4, 2-1 in league) who led by five with 2:45 left, but Fairfax (13-2, 3-0) turned up the defensive pressure and kept Westchester scoreless the remainder of the game.

"That's what we do," White said. "We play defense."

Fairfax will next meet No. 6 Compton Centennial in the California Hoops Challenge at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Lakewood Artesia High. Other games in the one-day showcase are No. 1 Artesia against No. 13 Woodland Hills Taft at 7 p.m. and No. 17 Long Beach Poly against Gardena Serra at 5:30.