PHOTOS: Bishop Gorman snaps Crean Lutheran’s winning streak at Nike Extravaganza

Crean Lutheran point guard Caden Jones drives as Bishop Gorman’s Braylen Williams defends Saturday night. (Photos courtesy John Luciano, For OC Sports Zone).

Crean Lutheran’s boys basketball team was hoping to end a successful week with a bang at the Nike Extravaganza Saturday night at Mater Dei’s Meruelo Athletic Center.

But after capturing two important Crestview League victories on the road against Cypress and Canyon, the Saints struggled, losing to Bishop Gorman, Nev. 65-45, in the final game of the two-day event hosted by Mater Dei.

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Crean Lutheran (19-7 overall) had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Saints will now gear up for Tuesday’s league showdown with La Habra for first place at Crean Lutheran. The teams are both 5-1 in league.

“It’s a great event, thank you to Gary (Mater Dei Coach McKnight) for having us again, we really struggled on the offensive end,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Austin Loeb. “I thought our boys battled hard on the defensive end, they shot it well, kudos to Gorman and their ability to move the ball.”

Bishop Gorman (14-8) made 65 percent of its field goal attempts to move out to a 35-24 halftime lead. The Gaels wound up making 53 percent of their field goals.

Crean Lutheran made just 29 percent of its field goal attempts and sank 8 of 18 free throws.

Tyler Johnson scored 12 points and Kameron Cooper and Tyler Bright scored 11 points each to lead Bishop Gorman.

Nick Giarrusso (12 points), Caden Jones (11 points) and Hunter Caplan (eight points) led Crean Lutheran, which took an early 14-11 lead after one quarter. Giarrusso was also the team’s leading rebounder with eight.

The Saints 6-11 senior center Chad Mpoyi, often double teamed, was held to four points and 6-7 senior Jacob Majok five points.

“Chad really struggled in the first half, I thought we were hitting our three’s somewhat in the first half,” Loeb said. “He was getting good looks, he just wasn’t getting them to fall tonight and ultimately it makes our guards a little easier to defend but I think the message to them is, not our best offensive night as a unit, but we’re focused on La Habra and Tuesday and that league championship game so we can’t let this affect the end of the season.”

Crean Lutheran cut the lead to 10 points early in the fourth quarter but Canon Mullen of Bishop Gorman hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 13 points.

Loeb credited Bishop Gorman for its solid defense.

“I thought we were getting good looks, especially in the third quarter and the second quarter, they just weren’t falling,” Loeb said. “That happens. Part of that mental toughness is to being able to shake it off and not let it affect you into the next game. We will learn something from this game but the overall message to our guys is we’re focused on La Habra. We want to perform well because it is the Extravaganza and it’s an historic event.

“But at the end of the day, our goal is to win our league championship in the Crestview League and play our best and see where the cards fall.”

The Saints were without Mpoyi for the last six minutes. Mpoyi went to the floor on a play and left the game with an injury.

“I think he might need stiches on his eye, playing the last six minutes without him hurts,” Loeb said. “Thankfully it got the outside of his eye and it’s not his actual eye.”

The game, scheduled for 9 p.m., started about 10:25 p.m. largely in part because the game between Mira Costa and St. Bernard went into double overtime with Mira Costa winning 78-76.

Fourteen games were held over the two days. It was the 31st year the event has been held.

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