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Mater Dei’s Evan Willis attempts a shot as Crean Lutheran’s Jacob Majok (23) and Caden Jones (0) defend. No. 4 is Mater Dei’s Blake Davidson. (Photos courtesy John Luciano, Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs).
Crean Lutheran High School’s boys basketball team kept it close in the first half against Mater Dei Saturday night in the featured game at the Nike Extravaganza at the Meruelo Athletic Center.
Mater Dei held a three-point lead at halftime but came out firing in third quarter and went on to defeat the Saints 71-60 for its fifth consecutive victory.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
The Monarchs outscored Crean Lutheran 19-11 in the third quarter and eventually built their lead to 65-45 on a 3-pointer by Luke Barnett with 3:42 left in the game.
Crean Lutheran forced some turnovers and converted them into baskets in the final couple minutes to make the score closer. Both teams scored 19 points in the final quarter.
Barnett led the Monarchs with 24 points and made four of nine 3-point field goal attempts. DeMarcus Henry scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Blake Davidson had 12 points and eight rebounds and Evan Willis nine points and 10 rebounds.
Crean Lutheran (12-11) was led by Jacob Majok who had 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Hunter Caplan had 12 points and Will Malual 11 points for the Saints.
Mater Dei (19-5) made 50 percent of its field goal attempts while Crean Lutheran hit 38 percent. The Monarchs also had the rebound edge, 35-30.
“We tried to get under their skin a little bit and say we got to play with a little more intensity and get more loose balls,” said Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight. “This is our third game in four days, and the atmosphere is a little different in the locker-room when I bring up 25 guys to suit up tonight. It’s hard to keep them focused.”
Crean Lutheran was coming off a big Crestview League victory over La Habra Friday night, its second of the week and fourth straight league win. About 24 hours later, the Saints, who are in first place in the league, then faced another formidable challenge against perennial power Mater Dei.
“I’m just proud of our boys,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Nate Klitzing. “We’re proud of the way they battled today the whole game, fought, had a great first half, probably our best half of ball movement and sharing the ball well in the first half.
“We had a little lull in the third and they started hitting the glass and getting some rebounds and put backs and that got us into a little hole, but we fought until the end and played all the way through the horn and that’s what we’re trying to keep instilling and building with this young group.”
Klitzing said he believes the tough schedule will pay off for his team.
“It’s been our toughest schedule to date in Crean Lutheran history for sure” he said. “We feel we’re battle tested from our early tournaments and now we’re seeing the rewards of those tough tests that we can come back and battle Mater Dei, who every year is one of the top teams in the county.”
Crean Lutheran has league games with Foothill at home Tuesday and at Cypress Friday.
Mater Dei is 5-1 in the Trinity League, is tied with St. John Bosco for first place. The Monarchs play at JSerra on Wednesday.
“That was our 19th win, which I was very happy because we started off the year a little bit struggling and a lot of people picked us pretty low in the league so I’m pleased right now, but there are four tough games to go and we got to take care of business here,” McKnight said.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com