IRVINE – Crean Lutheran took this game more seriously than the first one.
The Saints played with determination from the start and beat La Habra 75-67 in a Crestview League game Tuesday at Crean Lutheran High.
The teams entered the game tied for first place.
Crean Lutheran (20-7 overall) improved to 6-1 in the five-team league with one league game remaining. The Saints’ final league game is Friday against Foothill.
La Habra (20-7, 5-2) beat Crean Lutheran, 69-56, earlier this month in a league game.
Crean Lutheran senior guard Nick Giarrusso said the Saints were more focused for the rematch.
“I think we came in with a lot more effort,” Giarusso said. “We really wanted to beat them. The first time we played them we really thought we were going to beat them just because we’re bigger and more skilled.
“This time we were locked in from the start.”
The Saints could be in the elite Open Division when the CIF Southern Section playoffs begin. They are No. 12 in the CIF-SS computer rankings among the section’s 516 boys basketball teams.
La Habra concludes the regular season Feb. 3 with a league game at home against Canyon. The Highlanders are No. 27 in the CIF-SS rankings.
The CIF Southern Section playoffs begin Feb. 11 and the playoff brackets will be released Feb. 7 at noon.
Crean Lutheran’s 6-11 senior center Chadrack Mpoyi scored 23 points, including a few powerful dunks. Giarusso scored 16 points and Hunter Caplan scored 10 points including three 3-point baskets.
La Habra senior guard Acen Jimenez scored 26 points. Almost every shot Jimenez took was contested.
Highlanders freshman guard Aaron Wilson scored 15 points. Freshman guard Josh Desatoff scored 14 points with four 3-pointers.
La Habra played without Noah Poppin, a 6-1, 250-pound center who would have come in handy defensively against Mpoyi, who signed with Minnesota. Poppin was unavailable because of a family funeral.
The Highlanders were also without 6-4 Javier Nash because of a season-ending knee injury.
Crean took a 5-0 lead and built on it from there in the fast-paced game.
The Saints led 26-16 at the end of the first quarter.
They had a 39-31 lead at halftime and were up by 10 points, 57-47, at the end of the third quarter.
La Habra made a run early in the fourth quarter. A Jimenez basket cut the Crean Lutheran lead to five points, 64-59, but that was as close as the Highlanders would get.
Giarusso was the first Saints player assigned to guard Jimenez, a Dartmouth signee whose constant motion without the ball, his quickness when he has the ball and his shooting make handling him a major chore.
Crean Lutheran guard Bryce Coleman also covered Jimenez.
“Acen’s so hard to guard,” Giarusso said. “He’s really good at drawing contact. And it’s so tiring guarding him, chasing him around.”
Crean Lutheran also played some zone defense Tuesday.
“We mixed in a couple of zones, 1-3-1 and 2-3,” said Crean Lutheran first-year head coach Austin Loeb. “That threw a couple of different looks at them. On the offensive end, we just kept feeding the big fella.”
Crean Lutheran won the Crestview League championship last season with a 7-1 league record. La Habra finished third last season.
Crean Lutheran is No. 2 in the Orange County Top 25 and La Habra is No. 7.
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