La Canada ends Crean Lutheran’s CIF title hopes with 77-74 victory in double overtime

Crean Lutheran’s Drew Yezbak defends as Jake George of La Canada brings the ball up Saturday night. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran High School)

Crean Lutheran’s boys basketball team came ever so close to earning another trip to the CIF finals and a chance to bring home another crown.

But La Canada made the big plays at the end of regulation and in the two overtimes to capture a 77-74 come-from-behind victory over the Saints in the CIF 2A semifinals before more than 1,000 fans at Crean Lutheran.

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“It was a wild finish; I’m just proud of the way our guys competed this whole run,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Nate Klitzing. “We finished the way we wanted to start our whole year and that was together. In basketball, sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. Tonight it didn’t.

“Our guys just really battled all night and I couldn’t be more proud of them on this great playoff run and nobody really expected us to be here, except us. But credit to La Canada. They made some big plays and the kid (Noah Ford) hit the four-point play to send it to overtime.

“There are always going to be times when you look back and think but I just told my boys, ‘you got to keep your heads up.’ Because they did a lot of things to turn a lot of heads.”

Crean Lutheran won the CIF 3AA title last year and it appeared the Saints were on their way to another trip to the finals.

They led by four points at half, by as many as 15 points in the third quarter and by 12 after three quarters before La Canada rallied.

Both teams battled. There were numerous times when players wound up on the floor battling for possession. The fans from both sides were into it and the crowd noise was intense.

Crean Lutheran held a 62-58 lead heading into the final minute but La Canada came back on a deep 3-point jumper by Ford with 11 seconds left. He was also fouled and made the free throw to tie the game 62-62 and send it into overtime.

In the first OT, La Canada moved out to a six-point lead. But Jon Scherer hit a 3-pointer and later, Aiden Gilbert sank two free throws with 14.5 seconds to tie the game 70-70 and send it into a second OT.

In the second OT, Feehan made two free throws with 27.4 seconds left to put the Spartans ahead 77-74 and Crean Lutheran came up empty on two other chances leading to a celebration on the court by the visiting Spartans.

“It’s a great win for us, to get to the finals against that type of a deficit against a really well coached team,” said La Canada Coach Tom Hofman. “It was one of those games where both teams deserved it. We got the ball at the end and made the last shot.”

La Canada (27-5) was led by Ryan Graves who had 26 points including 11 in the fourth quarter when the Spartans outscored the Saints 21-9. He also drilled seven 3-pointers. Zach Feehan added 18 points and 16 rebounds for La Canada.

Crean Lutheran (17-14) was led by Chris Swardstrom and Drew Yezbak, who had 20 points each. Yezbak sank four 3-pointers.

Gilbert, the inspirational leader for the Saints, had 16 points and came out of the locker-room expressing pride in the team’s performance.

“Honestly, I’m just so proud of these guys,” Gilbert said. “Just to make it this far with these guys is amazing. I don’t think it was a matter of difference. The game was so close, double overtime, and it was anyone’s game and they ended up with it. We’ve gotten a couple close ones, they got this one.

“It was awesome. These fans are amazing. They got their fans, we got our fans. It’s high school basketball at its finest right here.”

La Canada is headed to the CIF finals Saturday against top seeded Colony next Saturday.

Crean Lutheran’s season isn’t over. The Saints, by virtue of reaching the semifinals, have qualified for the state tournament which starts the week after the CIF finals.

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