Cypress boys basketball team battles back and captures 68-66 victory over Heritage Christian at Edison tourney

Senior Jared Brown, who is headed to Westmont College, led Cypress with 23 points Saturday.

Cypress’ boys basketball team rallied from a 16-point deficit in the first half to defeat Heritage Christian 68-66 Saturday in the Edison Saturday After Thanksgiving Showcase.

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Cypress players warm up at halftime of Saturday's game.

Cypress Coach Derek Mitchell meets with his players before the start of the third quarter.

The Centurions (2-1) were led by by senior Jared Brown, who had 23 points and three 3-pointers. Anthony Tello added 16 points and Clifton Patterson eight points for Cypress.

“It was a team effort on defense,” said Cypress Coach Derek Mitchell. “In the first quarter, I thought we came out a little sluggish and we weren’t getting back and then our second unit came in and picked up the pressure and was able to sprint back and that stopped all the three-pointers they got in the first quarter.”

Leading the way was Brown.

“He’s our guy; he committed to Westmont and he pretty much runs the team,” Mitchell said. “The guys follow him and he’s the hardest worker we’ve got. He’s always positive with the guys and when we need a bucket we can go to him.”

Brown’s 3-pointer with 2:34 left in the third quarter tied the game 55-55.

In the fourth quarter, a basket by Christian Chai put Cypress ahead 68-66.

Heritage Christian had the ball back with 20 seconds left but was unable to convert on a field goal and then missed the front end of a two shot free throw situation. The Warriors called timeout after the first miss to set up an intentional miss, but could not rebound the ball.

“It was a big win, we were down by 16 coming into the second quarter and then our bench played a big role,” Brown said. “They sparked us up. We were in doubt, we couldn’t find our momentum with the starters in. Then the bench came in and did a good job and then the starters came back in and we did a good job of finishing it out.”

Brown knows his teammates look to him for leadership.

“The team only goes as far as I go, I feel,” he said. “My job is to lead them, whether it’s offensively or defensively and I feel like I picked up a good amount of steals to get the momentum back and a couple three’s knocked down and I was able to find my shooters and our bigs were great today on the defensive rebounds and offensive rebounds.”

Heritage Christian (2-2) was led by Justin Rochelin (21 points) and Dillon DePina (19 points).

Also today at Edison:

St. Francis 54, Northwood 34: Seth Locke scored 10 points to lead the Timberwolves in their season opener. It was the first game for acting coach Yousof Etemadi, who is filling in for Coach Tim O’Brien as the long-time coach recovers from cancer. O’Brien and Northwood officials are hoping O’Brien will return once he regains his strength but no timetable has been set. O’Brien has been at some of the practices, Etemadi said.

Northwood held a 23-20 lead at halftime but St. Francis broke the game open outscoring the Timberwolves 22-5 in the third quarter. Dennis Flowers III led St. Francis (2-0) with 25 points.

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