Tustin avenges first round loss to Crean Lutheran and takes over top spot in Empire League -

Tustin was led Tuesday night by (from left) Zoey Barajas, Alyssa Norada and Ahzira Faletoi. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Tustin High girls’ basketball players and coaches had Tuesday night’s game with Crean Lutheran circled on their calendars.

The Tillers wanted some revenge from a 51-41 loss to the Saints on Jan. 10 at Crean Lutheran.

They got just that, defeating Crean Lutheran 57-33 at Tustin to move into first place alone at the top of the Empire League standings with three games remaining. Tustin is 20-5 overall and 6-1 in league play while Crean Lutheran (20-4 overall) is tied with Cypress for second place in league with a 5-2 record.

“We were confident going into the first round against them,” said Tustin Coach Claire Gocke. “And kind of got kicked in the teeth from the start and set back and had an injury and a bad technical foul that almost fouled a kid out and we just lost control of the game early on.

“They really wanted to come out tonight from the very first part of it and they came out strong and took ownership of their efforts and what they wanted to do defensively tonight, knowing match-ups and what our role was for certain players. I think there were five shot clock violations and a five-second call so the tenacity they played with tonight, they wanted it.”

Tustin took a 13-9 lead over Crean Lutheran after one quarter, then broke the game open by outscoring the Saints 18-4 in the second quarter. Crean Lutheran’s only field goal of the quarter was a 3-pointer by Shannon O’Malley.

“I think that was the best first half of basketball we’ve played,” Gocke said. “The second half, we only outscored them by six and we still kept our composure and we weren’t trying to do too much.”

Tustin was led by junior Alyssa Norada, who had 22 points and senior Ahzira Faletoi who had 14 points. Junior Zoey Barajas added seven points.

“They’re big time and Alyssa can knock down shots and she was a solid defender tonight against number five (Taylor Feldman),” Gocke said. “Z inside again, that”s where a lot of movement came from. Zoey is not our leading scorer in a lot of games, but she comes out with this calmness and she plays with composure from start to finish.”

Crean Lutheran was led by Taylor Feldman, who had 15 points and Hailee Daniel who had seven points.

Crean Lutheran has had a memorable season but struggled Tuesday night.

“….If you look at our record, 20-4, the resiliency this team has had, I’m most proud of,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Bianca Ziemann. “But I have to hand it to the Tillers. They didn’t have a different game plan as it was in the first game.

“They were just making more shots and they were executing. On the flip end, we weren’t making shots and we weren’t executing defensively. So it was almost like a flip for us. But I’m not going to take away that hard work. I know Claire and those players. They all came in and played to the best of their ability. I can’t say that we did that tonight with our kids.

“Am I disappointed, yes, but just like anything else, God has blessed us with today and we’re going to take care of a bigger game Friday vs. Cypress who is in our section. Win or lose, we’re encouraged, we can improve and move forward. As a whole, we did not execute our game plan and 100 percent they did.”

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