PHOTOS: No. 4 Crean Lutheran earns decisive win over Glendora in CIF 2AA second round

Crean Lutheran players cheer on their teammates Wednesday night. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano, Ted Rigoni and Howard Lyon).

Crean Lutheran’s girls basketball team didn’t look at all rusty in its first CIF 2AA playoff game Wednesday night.

In fact, the Saints were on their game from the start and went on to defeat Glendora 69-35 in a second round game in front of a capacity crowd at Crean Lutheran. Fourth-seeded Crean Lutheran earned a first-round bye in the playoffs and hadn’t played since Thursday, Feb. 3.

“We had a week and a half off and that was a blessing,” said co-head coach Bianca Ziemann, who teams with her sister Rachael, the co-head coach. “I’m so proud of the girls, our mentality was defense. We wanted to come in and take away their three-point shots. I’m so proud from our top, to our bottom to our middle.

“Everyone came out and played to the best of their ability defensively. We beat a good team tonight. They kept their attitude, kept their cool and kept to their game plan.”

To see the slide show, click on the first picture:

Jane Hewitt of Crean Lutheran goes up for a shot.

Taylor Feldman of Crean Lutheran goes for a basket.

Syndee Norwood of Crean Lutheran maintains control.

Emily Reed of Crean Lutheran drives the lane.

Co-head coach Bianca Ziemann (front) with co-head coach Rachael Ziemann guides the Patriots.

Elizabeth Elder of Crean Lutheran looks for an open lane.

Crean Lutheran (21-3) moves on to the quarterfinal round Saturday at Sonora.

The Saints were led in scoring by senior guard Taylor Feldman, who scored 21 points. Jane Hewitt had 13 points and Emily Reed eight points for Crean Lutheran.

Feldman scored nine of her points in the first quarter, four coming on free throws to help the Saints move out to a 17-8 lead after the opening stanza. Crean Lutheran led 33-19 at halftime and 54-30 going into the final quarter.

“It’s a great victory, we know every game is going to be the hardest game, especially coming off such a long break since league but we did what we had to do, we followed our game plan and we executed,” Feldman said.

“We knew they were going to come out and double team or face guard me or Emily (Reed) and try and take us away, but the rest of the bench really stepped up. Everyone who came off the bench never let down and came in and did what they needed to do.”

Glendora (20-10) was led by Rylie Anderson, who had 10 points and Hailey Schaffer who had eight points.

Bianca Ziemann added thanks to her sister Rachael and the lower level coaches who helped in scouting.

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