Crean Lutheran stunned by Eagle Rock 57-56 in opening round of CIF Southern California Regionals

Crean Lutheran’s Aiden Gilbert drives to the basket Tuesday night. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran High School).

Crean Lutheran’s boys basketball team appeared to be on its way to the second round of the CIF Division IV Southern California Regionals.

The Saints looked to be in pretty good shape with a five-point lead after three quarters. They led by nine points with just over four minutes remaining.

But Eagle Rock rallied in the final minutes and pulled off a 57-56 victory at Crean Lutheran Tuesday night to advance.

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It was a wild finish.

Eagle Rock fought back to tie the game 53-53 with 1:41 left. But Crean Lutheran’s Aiden Gilbert made a 3-pointer to put the Saints ahead 56-53 in the final 30 seconds.

However, Eagle Rock’s Mitchell Gravino scored a basket with 17 seconds left to cut the lead to 56-55. Following a missed free throw by the Saints, the Eagles rebounded the ball and passed it to Gravino, who made another basket with nine seconds left to give Eagle Rock a 57-56 lead.

Crean Lutheran (18-15) called timeout and had two shot attempts, but both fell off the rim and Eagle Rock rebounded the ball and then celebrated the victory.

“Mitchell has been great for us all year,” said Eagle Rock Coach Chris Dunbar. “In the semifinal game, he got hurt so he’s been dealing with a twisted ankle the whole time in the playoffs. I think the team overall is just reslilient.

“We’ve been playing a lot of close games, so our guys are not rattled in close games.”

Gilbert led No. 5-seeded Crean Lutheran with 29 points and five 3-pointers. Jon Scherer added 10 points for the Saints.

Gravino scored 14 points and Jared Terrazas had 13 points each for Eagle Rock, the LA City City Division 2 champion, which was seeded No. 12.

The ending of the game was similar to the CIF 2A semifinal game at Crean Lutheran when the Saints were unable to hold on to a lead and eventually lost to La Canada 77-74 in double overtime.

In that game, Crean Lutheran led by 12 points going into the final quarter before La Canada rallied to force overtime and win.

“We had that game against La Canada where at the end, we did everything that we wanted to do,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Nate Klitzing. “And when you get into a similar game like that in your next game, sometimes maybe that creeps into the back of your mind.

“You kind of play not to lose. I don’t know that was the case. I think we had a couple lapses on defense there at the end and credit to Eagle Rock. They hit some shots and we had some opportunities. We couldn’t put it away tonight. I think the layoff of a week and a half or whatever it was, was tough for us to get our legs back underneath us It wasn’t an excuse because we led the whole game.”

Crean Lutheran led 22-18 after the first quarter and despite struggling shooting in the first five minutes of the second quarter outscored Eagle Rock 12-9 and led 34-27 at halftime.

“There were several points in the game where I thought we might be able to break it loose and get it rolling,” Klitzing said. “But it’s a game of runs and they had a couple runs in them themselves and that last run to end it.

“But ultimately, what I told them in the locker-room, with all of that being said, we’ve been battling and fighting all year and I’m proud of the way they came together as a unit and a group and what we all accomplished. It was an uphill battle, but to do what they did and go on that playoff run to the semis and then make it to state, I can’t be more proud as a first year head coach.”

“You can’t trade these experiences; you can’t replace them. You grow from them and you learn from them and hopefully as players and coaches we all learn and we keep improving.”

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