Crean Lutheran men’s basketball fell a bit in the Open Division playoffs – Orange County Register

It won’t be easy to play in the Open CIF Southern Section men’s basketball playoffs.

Crean Lutheran trainer Nate Klitzing knows it.

But a couple of near tantalizing defeats in the elite division had him thinking “what if”.

The Saints, playing in the Open Division for the first time, led Damien by 20 points in the first half of their first pool game on Friday at Crean Lutheran High

“We took the lead every game against Damien,” Klitzing said. “Then they did the big plays at the end.”

Damien won 64-59. Crean’s 6-10 senior, Koat Keat, played with swollen and painful knees to lead the Saints with 23 points,

As the billiards game continued on Tueday, Crean was the late rally performer, but Crean’s Vy Victory Miller final hit did just that and the Saints lost to Bishop Montgomery 62-59 at home.

“If something here and there goes our way, we can lead 2-0,” Klitzing said. “That’s how Open Division goes.”

Crean Lutheran (May 22) meets Centennial of Corona (28-1), the No. 1 team in CalHiSport.com’s California rankings, for Friday’s final.

Centennial has Open Division wins against Bishop Montgomery (78-53) and Damien (71-48). Crean played Centennial, twice: losing 66-56 in The Classic tournament at Damien and losing 72-57 in the day-long showcase event at Colony High.

Win or lose against Centennial, Crean’s season isn’t over yet. All CIF-SS Open Division teams qualified for the Southern California Division of the CIF State tournament. That includes Mater Dei (25-4), also 0-2 in the Open Division group game.

The quarterfinals will take place on Friday in other men’s basketball divisions. All the teams that made it to the CIF-SS semi-finals are eligible for the state tournament starting March 1 with a regional match.

Friday’s three quarterfinals featured two Orange County teams: Edison (25-4) at Pacifica Christian (17-12) in Division 2A; College (14-15) at Garden Grove (19-8) in 4AA; Tarbut V’Torah (5-10) at La Quinta (18-10), 5A.

All games start at 7pm. The timing of games may be changed if both teams agree to the change and if the change is approved by the CIF-SS office.

JSerra (17-9) advanced to Division 1 quarterfinals with two side wins, 63-44 over Oak Park in the first round and 72-44 against second seed Rolling Hills Prep in the second round. JSerra’s Rob Diaz scored 16 points with four blocked shots against Rolling Hills Prep. The Lions play Friday at St. Phim (May 25).

Slope foot (27-2) match Friday at Cajon in the quarterfinals of 2AA. In the second half of the half, Canyon (25-4), was led by 22 points by Tyler Howard in a second round win over ML King, at home to Los Altos (23-4).

Foothill and Canyon draw for the Crestview League title, after splitting their two matches against each other. They are two wins away from the rubber match.

San Juan Hills (April 24), the top seed at 2A, was home Friday to Thousand Oaks (May 18).

Two of the more surprising teams still alive in the knockout stages are Dana Hills and El Dorado.

Dana Hills qualifies as a major team, that is, a team that didn’t finish high enough in the final standings of the tournament to receive a guaranteed playoff spot, but was still judged enough to be ranked. Wednesday at 3A.

The Dolphins (17-9) beat San Jacinto with 40 points in the first round and Corona 22 in the second, led by Griffin Haugh by 22 points, to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals at home to Bishop Amat (23-6) .

El Dorado went 0-6 in the Crestview League, one of the county’s better leagues, and in the knockout stages beat Pacific Coast League champion Portola in the first round and followed by overtime victory over fourth seed Crescenta Valley in the second round.

The Golden Hawks (September 21), a well-balanced team led by seniors Jacob Kang and Hudson Novak and juniors Cooper Bladow, will go home on Friday against St.Paul (September 21).

Two Freeway League teams, Sunny Hills (23-7) and Fullerton (15-14) advanced to the quarterfinals of 4AA. Western (16-9) into the quarterfinals of 4A. Santa Ana (September 17) and Estancia (November 19) in the quarterfinals of 5AA.