When it’s Harvey Kitani versus David Rebibo in a high school basketball coaching matchup, you know it’s going to be a defensive grind. They demand defensive production, so Rolling Hills Prep and Harvard-Westlake went at it for 32 minutes on Saturday night at St. Francis.

It took four consecutive free throws by Joe Sterling in the final 21 seconds for Harvard-Westlake (17-2) to hold on for a 50-46 victory. About the only mistake Rolling Hills Prep (13-5) made was choosing to foul Sterling, well known as a clutch free-throw shooter. But the Huskies had no choice after a three by Aaron Heinze got them to within 48-46 with 2.6 seconds left.

Sterling finished with 16 points. Pierce Thompson had 14 points and Dominique Bentho added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Welch Jr. had a big game for Rolling Hills Prep with 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting. Carter Fulton added 10 points.

Santa Margarita 72, Fairfax 41: The Eagles (19-2) opened a 21-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised to victory at St. Francis. Brayden Kyman scored 21 points, Kaiden Bailey had 17 and Drew Anderson had 15.

St. Pius X-St. Matthias 67, JSerra 62: Kayleb Kearse finished with 27 points in the victory. Jaden Bailes had 30 points for JSerra.

Sierra Canyon 77, Phoenix St. Mary’s 45: The Trailblazers (13-1) tuned up for the start of Mission League play with a rout in Arizona. Brandon McCoy scored 18 points and Brannon Martinsen had 17.

Chaminade 70, Palos Verdes 44: Temi Olafisoye had 17 points for the 18-1 Eagles.

Thousand Oaks 53, Oak Park 46: The Lancers won their 16th consecutive game to stay unbeaten. Gabriel Chin had 14 points.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 67, Layton Christian (Utah) 64: NaVorro Bowman led the Knights (13-4) with 24 points. Josiah Nance added 16 points.

Bishop Montgomery 71, Palisades 68: Austin Kirksey had 24 points and Tarron Williams scored 22 points to help Bishop Montgomery improve to 15-2. Freshman Phillip Reed scored 24 points for Palisades.

Crespi 60, Modesto Christian 49: The Celts improved to 13-6.

St. John Bosco 62, Chandler (Ariz.) Basha 54: Christian Collins scored 31 points and Max Ellis had 22 for the Braves in a win in Arizona.

Mayfair 69, Cypress 56: Josiah Johnson’s 27 points helped Mayfair improve to 8-5.

Inglewood 98, Pasadena 97: Jason Crowe Jr. made the game-winning shot in overtime and finished with 51 points for Inglewood.

Girls basketball

Harvard-Westlake 51, Phoenix Desert Vista 39: Freshman Lucia Khamenia finished with 24 points for Harvard-Westlake.

Brentwood 59, Cardinal Newman 53: The Eagles improved to 9-4. Kelsey Sugar scored 24 points.

Saugus 57, Birmingham 52: Kayla Tanijiri had 16 points for Birmingham (13-3).

Only one more week of the 2025 NFL regular season remains, as Week 17 brought about some more playoff implications and even 2026 NFL Draft key positions.

The biggest takeaway from the slate of Week 17 is that two divisions in the NFL — the AFC North and NFC South — will be determined by whoever wins key matchups in Week 18.

First, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers getting upset by the Cleveland Browns at home, as Aaron Rodgers couldn’t find Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a controversial game-ending play in the end zone. That loss sets up the AFC North title game between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, which is only possibly thanks to a road victory where Derrick Henry scored four touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers.

Then, despite both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers losing their respective matchups, the NFL tiebreakers make their Week 18 bout the NFC South title game.

And while everyone was focused on the NFL playoff picture, the two-game 4 o’clock slate gave us the New York Giants against the Las Vegas Raiders, the winner of which owning the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

The Giants would’ve solidified the pick with a loss, but Jaxson Dart and the Giants’ offense blew out Geno Smith and the Raiders to relinquish the pick, which now belongs in Sin City.

NFL WEEK 16 SCORES: PLAYOFF PRESSURE LEADS TO THRILLING FINISHES ACROSS LEAGUE

Here’s how every NFL game played out:

THURSDAY, DEC. 25

– DALLAS COWBOYS 30, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS 23

– MINNESOTA VIKINGS 23, DETROIT LIONS 10

– DENVER BRONCOS 20, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 13

SATURDAY, DEC. 27

– HOUSTON TEXANS 20, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS 16

– BALTIMORE RAVENS 41, GREEN BAY PACKERS 24

SUNDAY, DEC. 28

– CINCINNATI BENGALS 37, ARIZONA CARDINALS 14

– CLEVELAND BROWNS 13, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 7

– NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 34, TENNESSEE TITANS 26

– JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 23, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 17

– MIAMI DOLPHINS 20, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 17

– NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 42, NEW YORK JETS 10

– SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 27, CAROLINA PANTHERS 10

– NEW YORK GIANTS 34, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS 10

– PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 13, BUFFALO BILLS 12

– SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS-CHICAGO BEARS (TBD)

MONDAY, DEC. 29

– LOS ANGELES RAMS-ATLANTA FALCONS (TBD)

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Opening day at Santa Anita might have been delayed by two days because of heavy rain, but it was worth the wait for no other reason than to watch the stretch run of the $200,000 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes.

And for trainer Bob Baffert, it was even better than that. Not only did Nysos and Nevada Beach run 1-2 for him Sunday in the thrilling Grade 2 Pincay, but he also captured the two Grade 1 races he entered, the La Brea with Usha and the Malibu with Goal Oriented.

It was the fourth time Baffert won three stakes on the same day at Santa Anita, including the same trio of races on opening day in 2022.

He was especially excited after the Pincay, and not just by what he saw on the track.

“You know what’s great?” Baffert said as he stood in the winner’s circle and motioned to the grandstand, which was crowded with an announced 41,962 fans, the largest opening day audience since 2016. “It’s great to see this place packed. Look, everybody came out. They’ll come out to see a good horse and everybody was on the apron for this one. And they saw a great horse race.

“It was actually fun watching.”

Particularly for Baffert, who knew as the field turned into the stretch he couldn’t lose. Nysos, the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile champion ridden by Flavien Prat, was on the inside of Nevada Beach, the Goodwood Stakes winner ridden by Juan Hernandez.

Nysos was the heavy 1-5 favorite, having lost only one of his seven lifetime races, but for at least a moment it looked as if he might not get past Nevada Beach, at 3 a year younger than his stablemate.

But, in a virtual rerun of the Dirt Mile, when Prat and Nysos edged past Hernandez and another Baffert 3-year-old, Citizen Bull, the older horse once again prevailed, again by a head.

“I was close,” Hernandez said. “My horse ran really good. I was in front on the stretch for a couple of jumps and then it was just back and forth between Nysos and my horse. … He was giving me everything he had.”

The Grade 2 Pincay (formerly the San Antonio) was one of six stakes races on opening day, which is traditionally held the day after Christmas. It wasn’t one of the three Grade 1 races, but the presence of Nysos made it feel like the day’s main event.

Nysos returned $2.40 after running 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.36, the fastest since the Pincay was moved to that distance in 2017.

Baffert said in the leadup to the race that Nysos likely would start next in the $20-million Saudi Cup on Feb. 14 in Riyadh, while Nevada Beach was more apt to go to the $3-million Pegasus World Cup next month at Gulfstream Park. After the Pincay, he didn’t rule out sending both to Saudi Arabia.

The only downside to Baffert’s stakes day was having to scratch Barnes and Cornucopian, the two morning-line favorites, from the Malibu. Barnes suffered a “minor setback” Saturday while Cornucopian had an incident in the paddock minutes before the race, which forced his withdrawal (he was uninjured).

No matter, though; Goal Oriented ($4.20) took over favoritism and earned his first stakes win, defeating stablemate Midland Money by a length in 1:20.97, the fastest Malibu since 2016.

“I’m just happy it turned out that we won it because it was so upsetting for a little bit,” Baffert said.

Usha ($13.20) was starting in a Grade 1 race for the first time, but she won the La Brea like a filly who has more victories in her future. She finished seven furlongs in a rapid 1:21.68 to beat 2-1 favorite Formula Rossa by 5¼ lengths.

The first of the six stakes races was the $200,000 Mathis Mile for 3-year-olds on the turf. Tempus Volat, trained by Leonard Powell, led the race but was passed in the final yard by Hiding in Honduras ($21.40), a 9-1 long shot ridden by Antonio Fresu for Jonathan Thomas. Namaron, the 1-2 favorite ridden by Prat, finished third.

There was no such drama in the second turf stakes, the $100,000 San Gabriel, in which Cabo Spirit ($14.80), trained by George Papaprodromou, took the lead shortly after the start under Mike Smith and rolled to a 1¼-length victory over Astronomer. Stay Hot, the 2-1 favorite, lost a photo for third to Mondego.

The final race of the day was the other Grade 1 event, the $300,000 American Oaks, won by another Thomas trainee, Ambaya, a 12-1 long shot. The daughter of Ghostzapper was ridden by Kazushi Kimura, who picked up the mount when Fresu injured his ankle earlier in the day.

Etc.

The two cards that were rained out over the weekend will be made up Monday and Wednesday, with free parking and admission. Both days will offer two stakes races; Monday’s highlight is the $200,000 Joe Hernandez, which includes Motorious and Sumter, who were 1-2 in the race last year, and Imagination, last month’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up who will be racing on turf for the first time.

Rain is forecast beginning Wednesday, with track officials saying they will monitor the situation before deciding on how it will affect the racing, if at all. The schedule calls for racing Thursday through Sunday before Santa Anita begins its normal schedule of Fridays through Sundays on Jan. 9.