Crean Lutheran’s Jacob Majok dunks the ball Wednesday night in a CIF playoff opener. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano and Ted Rigoni).
Crean Lutheran’s boys basketball team didn’t show any ill affects from an 11-day layoff Wednesday night.
The top-seeded Saints led from the start and rolled to an 87-61 victory over Santa Barbara in the opening round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs before a capacity crowd in the Crean Lutheran gymnasium.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Crean Lutheran (22-7) moves on to face Santiago of Corona (26-5) in the second round Friday night in Corona.
Crean Lutheran’s last game was Friday, Jan. 30 when the Saints defeated Foothill 78-65 to clinch the outright Crestview League title.
They came out fired up Wednesday, led by dominating center Chadrack Mpoyi, who had one of his best games of the season scoring 30 points. Jacob Majok was also outstanding scoring 18 points. Caden Jones scored 12 points and Nick Giarrusso 10 points for the Saints.
Both Mpoyi and Majok had some dazzling dunks which brought the Saints fans to their feet.
“Eleven days, it kind of ended up being a blessing because three or four of our starters got sick during that time,” said Coach Austin Loeb. “And we were able to use the time to recover, I’m just thankful they’re healthy now. I’m proud of the way we competed on the defensive end …. defense wins championships. We forced a lot of turnovers, I’m proud of the way we shared the ball and when we do that and we play good defense, we’re a tough team to beat. I think we showed that today.
“I’m excited to build off this, excited to get a home win to start playoffs in front of our fans and now we go on the road against Santiago. I’m sure that’s going to be a tough place to play. But we wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Santa Barbara (19-9) had one player 6-7, but and had little success containing the 6-11 Mpoyi, who had 16 points in the second half to help the Saints pull away.
“He did a really good job of running the floor today,” Loeb said. “When he was able to run, he just attracts so much attention in transition and credit to our guys. They found him and I think he had a couple monsterous dunks when he got some steals in transition …. he’s adding to his game, he’s evolving, he’s not just a low post threat, he can pass now, he’s knocked down a couple of three’s and I’m proud of his development. He’s a big part of our engine and we’re going to go as far as he takes us.”
Mpoyi was pleased with the victory, but said the Saints still need to step up their game to reach their goals.
“We got to stay more focused on our game,” Mpoyi said. “We’ve got to do better, we’re going to play great teams, but mostly, it’s about us. We have to be more focused and ready to go every night.”
Santa Barbara was led by Brent Sharpton and Cayleb Miller, who had 13 points each and Levin Oakes, who had 12 points.
Crean Lutheran, led by a 10-point effort by Jones in the first quarter, jumped out to a 26-13 lead after the opening period. The Saints extended their lead to 41-26 at halftime and eventually moved out to a 20-point cushion in the fourth quarter.
Loeb was pleased with Jones effort, especially in the first quarter.
“Really excited for Caden, I think he’s been shooting the ball all throughout league and to continue that shooting puts his confidence at an all-time high,” Loeb said. “We need him to score and he’s doing just that. He’s a tough guard, especially with his speed and quickness.”
Some of the biggest cheers of the night came when Crean Lutheran back-ups got points in the final minutes with the Saints ahead comfortably.
The Saints Friday opponent, Santiago (26-5) defeated Heritage Christian 60-55 Wednesday night.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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