Crean Lutheran players along with co-head coaches Bianca and Rachael Ziemann thank their fans after Tuesday’s game. (Photo, OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt; action photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano and Howard Lyon).
Crean Lutheran High School’s girls basketball team, hoping to make a run in the CIF Southern California Regional Division II Tournament, ran into a talented Bonita Vista team and lost in the first round 51-40 Tuesday night at Crean Lutheran.
No. 9-seeded Bonita Vista led most of the game and had a 28-15 halftime lead. The Barons went on a 6-0 run to start the third quarter to move ahead by 19 points and led 42-29 after three quarters.
No. 8 Crean Lutheran (22-5) made a bit of a run in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 10 early in the stanza before Bonita Vista took control again.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Crean Lutheran players and coaches went to the middle of the court to thank their fans for their support after the game.
“As a coach, you want the shooters to get back into their shooting rhythm,” said Crean Lutheran co-head coach Bianca Ziemann, who liked her team’s defensive tenacity in the second half.
“Shots weren’t falling, but we came screaming back. You got to give it to him, the coach did a phenomenal job, he was changing up his defenses which was causing a little bit of chaos with our girls in terms of going to match-up zone, trapping and then man.
“Do I think if we hit our shots and I made some adjustments sooner and quicker, 100 percent I think it would be a different outcome, but I got to be proud of my kids and our program, they’ve done a great job all year.”
Emily Reed scored 11 points, Taylor Feldman 10 points and Sydnee Norwood eight points to lead Crean Lutheran. Bonita Vista (18-11) was led by Kaylyn Buchanon-Lamb, who had 15 points and Mahliya Wilson, who had 12 points.
Although held down in scoring, the Saints star guard Feldman battled with her teammates until the final minutes, registering a block, in her final game after a prestigous four-year career with the program where she set numerous scoring records.
“Obviously, they’re a great team, I have to give it to them, they came out wanting to play and wanting to win,” Feldman said. “I felt we never gave up the entire year, let alone this game. We came out with heart and we played how we should play. Things just didn’t fall our way today.
“The shots weren’t falling, I think we just got into a weird groove, but we never gave up. We tried and we fought until the end buzzer, that’s how our team is built. We will always fight until we can’t fight anymore. We show heart, we show love for each other and we care for each other on and off the court.
“We’re best friends on and off the court, we basically live together. It’s so sad to see this.”
Feldman is headed to play at Northern Arizona University next year. But she was proud of what this year’s team accomplished.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better team or better coaches, they are probably the best coaches I have ever met in my entire life, but this team made me feel so welcome and it was a great year and a great run with Emily Reed that I’ve had for four years. That’s probably the saddest part about tonight is knowing that it’s the last game we’re going to play together.”
–Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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