CYPRESS — The Crean Lutheran boys basketball team came into its Empire League contest against Cypress on Tuesday motivated by the bitter memory of the outcome of the teams’ first meeting two weeks earlier.
That sense of purpose was clear from the outset, as the Saints, who are ranked No. 17 in Orange County, clamped down defensively from the opening tip to the final buzzer and came away with a 69-52 victory over the Centurions at Cypress High School.
With the victory, the Saints (15-12, 8-1) avenged their 55-52 defeat against the No. 6 Centurions (20-6, 8-1) when the league rivals played Jan. 17 at Crean Lutheran.
The Saints, who also snapped the Centurions’ nine-game winning streak, are now tied with the Centurions for first place with one league game remaining for both squads.
Crean Lutheran sophomore Kaiden Bailey was undaunted by a loud, and at times hostile-sounding crowd, leading all scorers with 31 points.
Jacob Majok, a 6-foot-6 sophomore for the Saints, finished with 16 points.
“As soon as that buzzer rang and we lost (the first game), it just kind of put a fire under me,” Bailey said. “I was super hyped, super pumped, looking forward to it and I was focused on winning this game.”
Crean Lutheran coach Nate Klitzing said a huge chunk of credit needs to go to the Saints’ effort on the defensive end. They held the Centurions, who average 66 points per game, to their fourth lowest point total of the season and lowest in a league game.
The Centurions were held to four points in the first quarter, eight points from the field in the second quarter and nine points from the field in the third.
Cypress put up multiple 3-point shots but didn’t hit one until the third quarter and hit only two for the game.
“That was part of our plan,” Klitzing said. “They came into our place a couple of weeks ago and popped us in the mouth. They wanted it more than us last time, and so we knew going into this, we’ve got to start on the defensive end. I’m just proud of our guys the way they competed and made it so difficult for them.”
Cypress closes out the regular season Thursday at Pacifica and the Saints will play host to Tustin on Thursday.
Should the Saints and Centurions finish in a first-place tie, both teams would advance to the playoffs in their respective divisions as the first-place teams.
Cypress is ranked No. 3 in Division 2A of the CIF Southern Section and Crean Lutheran is unranked in Division 1.
“It’s tough being the team that won the first time, in my opinion,” Cypress coach Derek Mitchell said. “They came out and they handed it to us. We couldn’t get our normal shots off. They were closing out harder than they were last time. They’re a good team, and we just got to take the ‘L’ and move on.”