PHOTOS: Crean Lutheran captures Crestview League title with win over Cypress

Crean Lutheran players and coaches after the Saints clinched the league title Friday night. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano).

Crean Lutheran High School’s boys basketball team showed up for Friday night’s game at Cypress poised to clinch a Crestview League title. 

And the Saints did exactly as they set out to do with a convincing 76-53 victory over the Centurions before a near capacity crowd.

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

Five Saints players notched double digits to help Crean Lutheran capture its fifth consecutive league championship. Crean Lutheran and Cypress shared the Empire League crown last year.

Jacob Majok led the way for the Saints. The junior forward scored 18 points and was dominant, along with his teammate Will Malual, on the boards at both ends of the floor.

Arnez Reynolds and Jordan Ceballos each scored 15 points and Caden Jones and Matt Ciftcikara added 10 points apiece as Crean Lutheran (14-11, 6-1) won its sixth straight league game and defeated the Centurions for the second time this season.

From the opening tip, the Saints were relentless on the boards grabbing rebounds, chasing loose balls, forcing turnovers, moving, and passing the ball effectively and swarming the Centurions attack.

“Our defensive effort was the key; we never let up,” said Majok, who had double digit rebounds and several blocked shots. “We kept our foot on the gas throughout the whole game. They said we weren’t ready for this league, but we proved we were ready.”

“We were locked in before the game to play aggressive defense and we stayed focused,” said Malual, a junior forward, who also had double digit rebounds, and a half dozen blocked shots.      

Saints Coach Nate Klitzing was sporting a big smile after the impressive win.

“It was our mindset; we came to play and got off to a quick start,” said Klitzing, who has now won the league championship in five of the seven years he has been head coach. “Cypress is our rival, and we knew they would play hard, so we came in here and set the tone on the defensive end. We played like warriors with great intensity.”

Majok hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the opening quarter to give the Saints a 22-8 lead after eight minutes of play. Ciftcikara, Reynolds, and Ceballos kept the pressure on Cypress (17-10, 3-4) in the second quarter as Crean Lutheran extended its lead to 40-20 at halftime.

“We were locked in offensively and defensively; we played great and we’re a dangerous team,” said Reynolds, who celebrated his 19^th birthday on Friday.

Ceballos agreed with Reynolds.

“We played with a defensive mentality,” said Ceballos. “We have to continue to set high standards for ourselves.”

The Saints drilled 10 3-pointers and never let the Centurions get into a rhythm as they maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half.

“Last year Cypress came into our gym and beat us, so we really wanted to beat them here,” said Ciftcikara. “Will and Jacob are two of the best players in Orange County and they were awesome. We didn’t want to share a league title, and it feels great to have the league title all to ourselves.”

Cypress’ junior guard Ryan Gov led all scorers with 21 points. Gov recently scored his 1,000th point and was honored in a ceremony for his achievement before the game.

“Ryan is our leader and our go to guy,” said Cypress Coach Derek Mitchell. “He can always create a shot.”

Mitchell said his team needs to move on from the game.

“We need to get over this one quickly and get ready for Tuesday; we still have a chance for third place,” said Mitchell, whose team had won three consecutive league game entering Friday’s contest. “We didn’t rebound, and we didn’t make shots, and they got a lot of put backs.”

Cypress, with its solid overall record, is also CIF playoff eligible.

Notes

—-Saints starting guard Hunter Caplan was sidelined with a knee injury and did not play. Klitzing said, “Caplan’s knee started swelling up last night and he couldn’t play today. He’s on a day-to-day basis, but we hope he’ll be ready to play on Tuesday.”

—Crean Lutheran’s sophomore guard Caden Jones left the game at the 3:08 mark of the opening quarter after he was shaken up scrambling for a loose ball. He returned in the second quarter and played a strong game.