Christian Collins leads St. John Bosco basketball past Harvard-Westlake

LOS ANGELES — Christian Collins scored 25 of his game-high 36 points in the second half to lead the St. John Bosco basketball team to a 57-55 victory over Harvard-Westlake in the Trinity-Mission League Challenge at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion Saturday night.

“I just really hate the feeling of losing,” Collins said. “And my team does as well so we knew what we had to do.”

The Braves improved to 2-0 but trailed 30-22 at halftime. However, Bosco went on a 14-2 run to begin the second half and outscored the Wolverines by a 20-7 margin in a pivotal third quarter to establish a 42-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Collins, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, who is an uncommitted five-star recruit with Kentucky, UCLA and USC in his final three schools, kept attacking and scored 14 of his team’s 15 points in the fourth and also had six rebounds.

“Christian is a game changer,” St. John Bosco basketball coach Matt Dunn said. “He did a great job down the stretch.”

Harvard-Westlake senior guard Joe Sterling, who signed with Texas, missed a desperation heave from beyond the arc as time expired. The Texas signee finished with eight points.

“Our game plan was really stopping him from getting ball,” Collins explained. “We were playing hard, switching, just communicating. We had to be on our A-game because they are really well coached.”

Through two games, Collins is averaging 35.5 points. He had 35 points, 16 rebounds, two steals and three blocked shots in Bosco’s 68-66 victory in a season opener against Mayfair on Tuesday.

Braves senior forward Tariq Iscandari’s 3-pointer put Bosco up 10-9 late in the first quarter.

Iscandari, who transferred from Corona Centennial, scored all seven of his points off the bench in the first but Bosco trailed 13-12 heading into the second quarter.

Bosco 7-foot senior center Howie Wu picked up his third foul with 6:41 left in the second quarter.

With Wu sidelined, Braves senior forwards Dominic Perfetti and Leon Shingo worked together to force a backcourt violation with 4:52 left in the second quarter.

Harvard-Westlake senior forward Dominque Bentho’s layup made it 25-18 with 2:05 left in the second quarter.

Collins did his part and scored eight of Bosco’s 10 points in the second quarter. However, the Braves were outscored by a 17-10 margin in the second and trailed 30-22 at halftime.

Bosco began the second half on a 5-0 run courtesy of two made free throws by Collins and 3-pointer by senior forward Max Ellis, which cut Harvard-Westlake’s lead to 30-27.

Collins scored nine points by the halfway point in the third, including a 3-pointer that put Bosco up 34-32. Collins drained another jumper, which made it 36-32.

Wolverines junior guard Cole Holden’s 3-pointer cut it to 36-35.

Ellis’ 3-pointer extended Bosco’s lead to 39-35.

Sterling’s tough jumper made it 39-37.

Ellis’ buzzer beating 3-pointer, his third of the quarter, made it 42-37 heading into the fourth quarter.

“My shot wasn’t falling in the first half but I put in too much work to ever run out of confidence,” said Ellis, who finished with nine points.

Harvard-Westlake began the fourth on a 5-1 run, which cut Bosco’s lead to 43-42 with 6:03 left in the game.

However, two consecutive 3-pointers by Collins made it 49-44.

Holden’s three-point play cut Bosco’s lead to 50-47. Bentho’s bucket made it 50-49.

Collins drained both free throws to go back up 52-49. Collins’ putback layup made it 54-49 with two minutes to go.

Holden’s next three-point play made it 54-52 with 1:28 remaining. He finished with a team-high 18 points and six rebounds.

Wolverines senior guard Amir Jones was fouled on a corner 3-pointer. He made all three free throws and gave Harvard-Westlake a 55-54 lead with 35.6 seconds to go. Jones finished with 12 points.

Collins drove to the basket and was fouled with 22.7 seconds to go. He delivered again and made both free throws, which put Bosco back up 56-55.

Braves point guard Gavin Dean-Moss was fouled with 4.6 seconds to go. He made 1 of 2 free throws, which extended Bosco’s lead and helped secure the team’s 57-55 victory.

Harvard-Westlake (1-1) will host Millikan (0-2) on Tuesday, Nov. 25.

St. John Bosco will host San Diego Francis Parker on Dec. 3.

St. John Bosco senior forwards Christian Collins and Max Ellis and Coach Matt Dunn on @BoscoBasketball’s 57-55 victory over Harvard-Westlake in the Trinity-Mission League Challenge at Pauley Pavilion Saturday night.

The Braves improved to 2-0 and were led by Collins with a… pic.twitter.com/ulAcSME1w3

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) November 23, 2025