Tustin remains atop Empire League with 50-31 victory over Crean Lutheran

Zoey Barajas (left) and Alyssa Norada led Tustin to Friday’s Empire League victory. (Photo Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone)

Senior guard Alyssa Norada scored 13 of her game-high 24 points in the third quarter to spark the Tustin High girls basketball team to a 50-31 victory over Crean Lutheran in an Empire League game Friday night at Tustin High. 

The Tillers notched their eight consecutive win and remained in first place in the league with a perfect 6-0 record. During their winning surge, Tustin (16-3) has been beating its opponents by more than 30 points per game. Tustin, who defeated the Saints for the second time this season, also improved to 9-1 at home this year.

After holding a narrow 21-18 halftime lead, Norada, a senior guard, started the third quarter with a hot hand shooting as she drilled five consecutive shots, including three 3’s. Her 3-pointer gave the Tillers a 34-20 lead with 4:37 left in the quarter. Crean Lutheran was unable to counter. Tustin outscored the Saints 17-4 in the quarter and led 38-22 after three periods. 

“I wasn’t getting the calls I wanted in the first half and I was wearing my emotions on my sleeve at halftime, but Zoey (Barajas) helped me make adjustments,” said Norada, who is planning on attending Cal Berkley next year and attempting to be walk-on to the basketball team. “By the time we hit the court in the third quarter, the whole team knew we wanted to win this game.”

Barajas finished with nine points and teamed with Bri Scheer, Serenity Fields, Tamlyah Boykin to dominate the boards as the Tillers cruised to victory.

“Everybody was pulling for each other and cheering and it really made a different, said Barajas. “This win boosts our confidence and we’re growing as a team.”

Tillers’ coach Claire Gocke said her team effectively responded in the second half.

“In the first half we played timid and we needed a spark,” said Gocke. “Alyssa was that spark and Serenity (Fields) and Tamlyah (Boykin) dominated the glass. We made adjustments to their defense in the second half. These are tough kids and they play hard.”

The Tillers have three regular season games (Valencia, Cypress and Kennedy) remaining. If they win out, it would be the first undefeated season in league under Gocke’s leadership and it would be Tustin’s fourth league title since she took over.

“This is the tough part of schedule,” said Gocke, whose team is ranked second in the CIF-SS Division 2AA poll. “These kids have made up their minds that they just don’t want to be okay, they want to win.”

Crean Lutheran had its four-game winning snapped but played a gutty first half after getting strong performances from Maya Bland and Glanna DeForest at both ends of the court. Taylor Feldman led the Saints with 17 points, including 10 points in the first half. Crean Lutheran (9-4 overall) is ranked seventh in Division 2AA and is currently in second place in the league at 4-2.

“We are a very young team and we don’t have the experience of knowing how to respond when the momentum changes,” said Saints co-coach Bianca Ziemann. “That will come with more playing experience, but our kids don’t give up. We didn’t execute our game plan and didn’t make key plays. We could have done better, but Tustin deserved to win this game, they played better.”

The Saints have four games remaining in the regular season against Pacifica, Valencia, Cypress and Kennedy.

—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone