Serigne Deme’s third double-double of the season made the difference in a neck-and-neck game as the the No. 3 Cleveland Cavaliers claimed victory over the No. 6 Washington Prep Generals 59-57 in the CIF Los Angeles City Section Open Division Quarterfinal Wednesday evening.

Deme led Cleveland with 18 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. A late three pointer from Kamari King gave the Cavs a two-point lead, which they would see out to end the game. King finished the contest with 16 points.

“It meant something to me because I’ve been here three years and we’ve never made it out of the first round in open [division],” said King. “I wanna win something this year. We deserve to win something.”

The Cavaliers took an early lead in a dominant first quarter, holding the Generals to just eight points and not allowing Donald Thompson Jr., Washington Prep’s top scorer this season, to record a point.

“You’ve got to remember with [Thompson Jr.], he’s the reigning city player of the year,” said Cavaliers head coach Dagan Asfaw. “We really had to game plan against Donald and make sure everything was tough for him and show him different looks.”

Cleveland took a 19-8 lead into the second quarter, but the Generals’ zone defense caused problems for the Cavs, whose lead began to slip.

“There were easy plays to make, there was enough space, but we were just having a hard time making reads in that zone,” said Asfaw. “We were getting good looks, we were getting into the right spots, but the reads weren’t there.”

Deme sat for the final five minutes of the second quarter after being charged with his second foul, and Washington Prep continued to close the gap. Thompson Jr. sank a basket to give the Generals their first lead of the night late in the second quarter, but a buzzer-beating layup from Roman Finney would level the game at 28 as the teams went into the locker room.

“[Deme] had two fouls and we understood that for us to be successful we needed him to go into that second half being way more free,” said Asfaw. “He ended up playing a lot more free in that second half knowing that he only had two fouls in the bag.”

The game remained close throughout the second-half, which exhibited 11 lead changes. The Cavaliers had a chance to ice the game late in the fourth quarter, but an unsuccessful lob from King to Deme opened the door for Washington Prep’s Semaj Howard to hit a big three to cut the Cavs’ lead to one.

“I put the blame on me,” said Asfaw. “I was encouraging the lob. That’s career defining moments for people. I told my best point guard and I told my best big to go for it. It didn’t work out, it almost bit us in the butt. I told them to stay with it and defend and we’ll be fine, but I put that lob attempt on me. That’s my fault.”

The Generals would take the lead after the next possession through Jaden Thomas, but it would not last long as King drained a clutch corner three to take the lead with 1:26 on the clock. Washington Prep took the final shot with 3.7 seconds on the clock, but could not convert, giving Cleveland a 59-57 victory.

Cleveland will continue their Open Division campaign Feb. 24, where they meet No. 2-seeded Westchester in the semifinal.

“Westchester’s next, they’re a fabulous team,” said Asfaw. “They have a lot of great players, especially one of the top players in the country, and we’re ready for that challenge.”

“We’ll be ready for them, we’ll be ready for them,” said Deme.