COLLINS TWINS LEAD EASY WIN\H-W crushes foe in regional play\HARVARD-WESTLAKE 81, TEHACHAPI 42.

Byline: Gary Washburn Daily News Staff Writer

The Harvard-Westlake High School boys' basketball team probably used its time better watching the Division III-AA final last Saturday than it did disposing of overmatched Tehachapi in the State Regional on Tuesday in North Hollywood.

The Wolverines hung around after their III-A win over Morningside and watched as Muir upset Bishop Montgomery. It did lose, but Bishop Montgomery, which will be Harvard-Westlake's next opponent, impressed the Wolverines enough that they didn't lose focus against a Tehachapi team that lost its Central Region final by 20 points.

Jarron Collins scored 16 points and his 6-foot-11 brother Jason added 15 as the Wolverines easily beat the Warriors 81-42 in a game that was over in the first four minutes.

"It was a lot like practice," Jason Collins said. "We had to make sure to run our offense and keep playing hard."

Tehachapi (18-9) had no player above 6-foot-4 and no one to match up with the intimidating Collins twins. It didn't score until 5-8 guard Nick O'Neill hit a 3-pointer with 2:49 left in the first quarter after Harvard-Westlake had taken a 17-0 lead.

With Tehachapi's post players hacking the twins, the Wolverines decided to use their transition game to score easier baskets.

"I've never seen two big guys in high school do everything," Tehachapi coach Steve Walker said."They run the floor, pass, shoot and rebound. We had no chance."

By the end of the third quarter, Harvard-Westlake (27-2) led 68-25, the Collins twins were taken out of the game and the reserves were all trying to hit 3s.

Eleven different Harvard-Westlake players scored, including Ryan Smiley with 10 and Jason Segel with eight. But there was no celebration that followed the victory, just focus.

"We need to have a good practice (today) because there's some much tougher competition coming," Jason Collins said. "We have a much bigger goal of the state championship."

But the Wolverines find themselves in the same position as last season, having beaten an overmatched team from the Central Section and awaiting a much more talented opponent on Thursday, Bishop Montgomery.

"I think the kids are glad they stayed around and watched the Bishop Montgomery game," Harvard-Westlake coach Greg Hilliard said. "They know what's ahead. I think the kids are more experienced than from last year's group."

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Photo Harvard-Westlake's Jason Collins tangles with Tehachapi's David Powell in the first half of their State Regional game Tuesday night. David Sprague/Daily News