Edison finishes strong to defeat Crean Lutheran in Beach Bash Tourney at CdM

Dylan Hugues of Edison gets ready to take a shot as Kenneth Bailey of Crean Lutheran defends Wednesday night. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Edison High School’s boys basketball team held off a late charge by Crean Lutheran to capture a 63-54 victory over the Saints in the second round of the Beach Bash Tournament at Corona del Mar Wednesday night.

The Chargers (5-3) move into the semifinals of the tournament Friday night.

“We’ve been a little inconsistent but we put together a full four quarters and that was very exciting for us,” said Edison Coach Rich Boyce.

Edison held a 29-27 halftime lead, then came out with a strong third quarter effort, extending the lead to 11 points.

Senior Dylan Hugues scored 16 points, all in the second half, Kaz Hampton had 13 points and Tucker Tripp scored 10 points to lead Edison.

Crean Lutheran (3-2) was led by senior Kenneth Bailey, who scored 18 points and freshman Kaiden Bailey who had 16 points and five rebounds. Senior Evan Yang added eight points for the Saints.

Crean Lutheran was able to cut the lead to 47-45 when Kenneth Bailey hit a 3-point basket and sank a free throw late in the game.

But Edison jumped back out to a 50-45 lead on a 3-pointer by Tripp and was able to make big stops down the stretch.

“Defense has been our calling card because our offense has been a little sporadic, but we played great defense tonight and we defended really well, especially on their two really good shooters,” Boyce said. “They made some shots but we made them work for it.

“We played a complete game tonight.”

Boyce was pleased with Hugues effort in the second half.

“He had foul trouble in the first half so we had to sit him quite a bit,” Boyce said. “He got into the flow pretty quickly that second half.”

Coach Nate Klitzing’s Crean Lutheran team, with many new players and two freshmen starters, Kaiden Bailey and Braeden Davidson, battled until the end. The Saints got solid play from Kenneth and Kaiden Bailey, but they were the only two Saints who scored in double figures.

Crean Lutheran’s only other loss was a one-point setback to Beverly Hills (7-0). The Saints defeated Sage Hill in the opener of the Beach Bash Tournament, 76-44.

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