Boys’ basketball: Gsellman is two-sport standout for Westchester

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Coaach Ed Azzam’s best two-sport standout at Westchester was football-basketball player Ken Norton Jr., but he has a basketball-baseball senior in Robert Gsellman who’s producing at a high level in both sports.

The 6-foot-6 All-City pitcher is leading the Comets with an average of 16 points a game. On Monday night, he made three three-pointers in the second quarter to turn the Western League game against second-place L.A. University (21-6, 6-2) into a rout, and Westchester went on to beat the Warriors, 75-53.

‘He can shoot the ball,’ Azzam said. ‘If you leave him open, you’re going to have a tough night.’

Westchester (20-5, 9-0) made six three-pointers in the second quarter and outscored University, 28-10, to take a 48-27 halftime lead. Gsellman finished with 14 points, including four three-pointers. Joshua Wilson had 12 points and Trevone Williams 10.

Westchester opened a 10-1 lead, then David Nwaba put together a burst of 10 points to end the quarter, giving University hope. But Nwaba, who finished with 24 points, couldn’t sustain his scoring and received little help from teammates.

Woodland Hills Taft Coach Derrick Taylor was in the stands scouting Westchester, which should be the No. 2 seed for the City Section Division I playoffs behind Taft.

‘We’ve been playing pretty good defense all year,’ Azzam said ‘What I like is they’re a lot more comfortable on offense. If we can keep that confidence and rhythm, we’re going to have some fun.’

Westchester is off the rest of the week until playing Orange Lutheran in the Nike Extravaganza on Saturday at Mater Dei.

In another Western game, Fairfax defeated Venice, 63-53, with Reggie Theus scoring 12 points and Landon Drew getting 10 assists.

-- Eric Sondheimer