Crean Lutheran’s Caden Jones controls the ball as Cypress, led by Ryan Gov, defends. No. 4 is Bryce Coleman. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Crean Lutheran’s boys basketball team began a stretch of four tough games coming from behind to defeat a determined Cypress squad 57-41 in a Crestview League match-up Tuesday night in Cypress.
Crean Lutheran (18-6, 4-1) remains tied with La Habra (19-6, 4-1) for first place in the league. The Saints also have a league road game Friday at Canyon, a Nike Extravaganza contest with Bishop Gorman Saturday at 9 p.m. at Mater Dei and a rematch with La Habra, the only team to defeat the Saints in league, next Tuesday at home.
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Cypress (16-9, 2-3) led by one point at the end of the third quarter and extended its lead to four points early in the fourth quarter before Crean Lutheran’s Jacob Majok (6-7) and Chadrack Mpoyi (6-11) took over. Both finished with 18 points. The two combined for 18 of the Saints 25 points in the fourth quarter to help Crean Lutheran outscore Cypress 25-8.
Crean Lutheran was without leading scorer Hunter Caplan, who missed the game to due illness. The junior guard, who is averaging 17 points a game, is expected back this week.
“I think we did a heckuva job holding Cypress with all their shooting and their transition play to 41 points,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Austin Loeb. “That says a lot about our guys sprinting back and our transitional defense and only having eight guys, it was about pacing ourselves and then we made a little adjustment in late third quarter …. we changed up how many guys we were sending to the glass and that opened up Chadrack and Nick Giarrusso and a couple other guys toi get some offensive rebound putbacks.
“We were getting looks from 3-point line, we just weren’t knocking them down. We were missing our three-point sniper in Hunter and so I’m proud of the way how they gritted it out and found a different way to execute. The message was, as long as we can have a hand up and contest their 3-point shots and get back defensively, you really try to stop (Ryan) Gov because he’s a tough cover in transition.”
Gov led Cypress with 12 points. Tyus Allen had nine points and Emmanuel Igbekoyi for Cypress, which is trying to keep its playoff hopes in the final two weeks of the season.
Crean Lutheran was also missing senior Will Malual, who is out with a foot injury but Majok and Mpoyi were able to carry the load. Caden Jones had 11 points and Giarrusso eight points for the Saints.
“It’s a hostile environment to walk in here, we had the mentality of knowing it’s going to be crazy here,” said Majok, who returned to the lineup in a win Saturday over Fairmont Prep. “We just got to keep our compsure and play our game and follow the game plan, and although we were shorthanded and some guys were out, we still kept our compsure and did what we had to do to win the game.
“We pulled the win out and we had a lot of guys who contributed off the bench and helped us defensively and that’s what got us the win.”
“We stayed more focused on the game because of the crowd,” added Mpoyi. “The game was more about us. We watched the films and we knew how to guard them and how to come off the screen. We spotted the shooters and we know how to cover their screens.”
Crean Lutheran led 18-9 after one quarter but Coach Derek Mitchell’s Centurions got going in the second quarter, outscoring Crean Lutheran 15-9 to cut the lead to three at halftime.
Gavin Kroll hit a 3-pointer for Cypress in the third quarter to put the Centurions up 29-28. The start of the fourth quarter was also promising for Cypress, but the Centurions struggled scoring Crean Lutheran got rolling.
“I thought in the fourth quarter we had them, up four with six minutes left,” Gov said. “But we kind of broke down with turnovers and missed defensive assignments and we couldn’t get a bucket down the stretch. I think that’s what it came down to.”
Cypress plays at La Habra Friday night before finishing league next week with games vs. Canyon and Foothill.
“We just got to win out, win every game,” Gov said when asked about the team’s CIF playoff chances. “We got to lock in and take every game like it’s a playoff game, it’s win or go home now.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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