Public meets private as Cypress and Crean Lutheran clash Tuesday night in Empire League boys basketball showdown

Cypress players wait for action to resume last week against Tustin.

The stage is set for a big early season boys basketball showdown on Tuesday night at Cypress.

Crean Lutheran and Cypress will compete for first place in the Empire League in a 6 p.m. game.

“(It’s) public vs private as we will both be 4-0 heading into that game,” said Cypress Coach Derek Mitchell said Friday after the Centurions improved their record to 20-2 overall with a 75-30 victory over Kennedy (click here for details.)

Cypress also rolled to an Empire League victory over Tustin behind a record-setting performance by Jared Brown (click here to see the story).

Cypress has been promoting the Centurions’ home game on social media.

It’s the first year in the Empire League for Crean Lutheran, a private school in Irvine.

The Saints are 11-8 overall under first year Coach Nate Klitzing and captured a 61-44 victory over Valencia Friday night.

Crean Lutheran used to be in the Academy League.

There is always lots of debate about whether private schools should be competing in the same league as public schools.

Let the debate continue.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com