Crean Lutheran’s Jacob Majok defends as San Clemente’s Porter Hansen puts up a shot Wednesday night. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, Ted Rigoni and Howard Lyon).
Crean Lutheran High School’s boys basketball team settled the issue early Wednesday night.
The Saints jumped out to an 18-0 lead, led 20-2 after one quarter and wound up winning 68-56 in the opening round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs in a game featuring two league champions at Crean Lutheran.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Crean Lutheran (16-11) moves on to the second round Friday at Brentwood.
“It was an amazing start by our guys, we were locked in, I could tell in the locker-room they were focused, we’ve really matured, we’re a young group and every single week we were figuring out that the focus and being locked in to the scouting report is very important, and on the flip side of that, you got to bring energy and effort and we had that, they were flying around like mad men,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Nate Klitzing.
Crean Lutheran was led by center Jacob Majok, who was a force inside, scoring 19 points, grabbing five rebounds and making numerous blocks. Senior guard Matt Ciftcikara added 16 points and forward Will Malual had 11 points and eight rebounds.
The Saints defense was relentless from the start against San Clemente.
“It’s what it takes in the playoffs,” Klitzing said. “You got to be great defensively to win in the playoffs, every team in Division 1 is accomplished and well coached and it’s going to be tough, so you got to bring that every single day. Jacob and Will have been doing it all season and their pursuit on the glass, not just rebounds but altering and blocking shots. When those guys are flying at you, it’s hard to score.”
Klitzing was also pleased with the effort of Ciftcikara, who had four 3-pointers.
“I’m so proud of Matt, he has been a four-year player in our program, he played all levels and the last two years on varsity, it’s just great to watch him have these big moments and big games and hit some clutch shots,” Klitzing said.
Majok was thrilled with the effort of his teammates.
“The difference was the effort today,” said Majok, a 6-7 junior. “Effort and ball movement, we played as a team today, everybody contributed and we moved the ball well. Everybody was there to step up for another brother, that was the goal today, stepping up for a brother.”
Porter Hansen, who had 23 points and five 3-pointers and Christian Fernandez, who had 13 points, led San Clemente (23-5). Both players are seniors who joined the 1,000-point career club for the Tritons.
Crean Lutheran led 40-22 at halftime. San Clemente continued to battle in the second half, cutting the lead to 40-27 on a 3-pointer by Hansen and a basket by Chase Tolliver.
Crean Lutheran led 52-35 after three quarters before San Clemente moved to within nine points with under 40 seconds left.
In the end, the rough start was too much for San Clemente, cheered on by a large contingent of Triton fans, to overcome.
“Lost by 12, they’re a really good team,” said San Clemente Coach Landon Pluimer. “It was just a really hard start for us, I felt like we couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean, and they couldn’t miss, but I couldn’t be more proud of the guys, we cut it to 10 or 11 in the second (half) it’s just really hard to come back against really good teams but we battled hard. It was a tough one. They’re a really good team and really well coached and I think they’re going to go far.”
Pluimer said he was proud of the season for his team, which won the South Coast League title.
“I couldn’t be prouder, 23-6, to be first place in our league, we lost six games and all the teams are either in Division 1 or open, we didn’t lose to any bad teams and we played hard throughout,” he said. “Having 20 plus wins the last two years, a lot of these guys were on the 6-22 team so they were great, they worked really hard, they kept battling and getting better. It’s a tough way to end.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
More Stories
OC boys basketball CIF playoff final scores and highlights on Wednesday, Feb. 12
Strong defensive effort powers Orange past Duarte in CIF Division 5A playoff opener
PHOTOS: Saddleback captures decisive victory in CIF Division 5A playoff opener at home