It wasn’t going to be easy playing in the Open Division of the CIF Southern Section boys basketball playoffs.
Crean Lutheran coach Nate Klitzing knew that.
But a couple of tantalizingly close losses in the elite division have put “what if “ thoughts in his mind.
The Saints, playing in the Open Division for the first time, had a 20-point lead over Damien in the first half of the their first pool-play game Friday at Crean Lutheran High
“We led all game against Damien,” Klitzing said. “Then they made the big plays at the end.”
Damien won 64-59. Crean’s 6-10 senior Koat Keat played through a swollen and painful knee to lead the Saints with 23 points,
When pool play resumed Tueday it was Crean that made the late rally, but a final shot by Crean’s Vyctorious Miller did the in-and-out thing and the Saints lost at home to Bishop Montgomery 62-59.
“If a couple things here and there go our way we could be 2-0,” Klitzing said. “That’s the way the Open Division goes.”
Crean Lutheran (22-5) goes to Centennial of Corona (28-1), the No. 1 team in CalHiSport.com’s California rankings, for its final pool-play game Friday.
Centennial has Open Division wins over Bishop Montgomery (78-53) and Damien (71-48). Crean has played Centennial, twice: a 66-56 loss in The Classic at Damien tournament, and a 72-57 loss in a one-day showcase event at Colony High.
Win or lose against Centennial, Crean’s season is not over. All CIF-SS Open Division teams qualify for the CIF State tournament’s Southern California Regional. That includes Mater Dei (25-4), also 0-2 in Open Division pool play.
Quarterfinal round games will be played Friday in the other boys basketball divisions. All CIF-SS semifinalists qualify for the state tournament that begins March 1 with regional play.
Three quarterfinals games Friday have two Orange County teams in them: Edison (25-4) at Pacifica Christian (17-12) in Division 2A; University (14-15) at Garden Grove (19-8) in 4AA; Tarbut V’Torah (5-10) at La Quinta (18-10), 5A.
All games start at 7 p.m. Games times can change if both teams agree to the change and if the change is then approved by the CIF-SS office.
JSerra (17-9) advanced to the Division 1 quarterfinals with two one-sided wins, 63-44 over Oak Park in the first round and 72-44 over second-seeded 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. Francis (25-5).
Foothill (27-2) plays Friday at Cajon in the 2AA quarterfinals. In the other half of the bracket, Canyon (25-4), which was led by Tyler Howard’s 22 points in its second-round win over ML King, is home against Los Altos (23-4).
Foothill and Canyon tied for the Crestview League championship, having split their two league games against each other. They are two wins away from the rubber match.
San Juan Hills (24-4), top seeded in 2A, is home Friday against Thousand Oaks (18-5).
Two of the more surprising teams still alive in the playoffs are Dana Hills and El Dorado.
Dana Hills qualified as an at-large team, which is a team that does not finish high enough in its league’s final standings to receive a guaranteed playoff berth, but still was well-regarded enough to be seeded fourth in 3A.
The Dolphins (17-9) beat San Jacinto by 40 points in the first round and Corona by 22 points in the second round, led by Griffin Haugh’s 22 points, to advance to a quarterfinals home game Friday against Bishop Amat (23-6).
El Dorado was 0-6 in the Crestview League, one of the county’s better leagues, and in the playoffs beat Pacific Coast League champion Portola in the first round and followed with an overtime win over fourth-seeded Crescenta Valley in the second round.
The Golden Hawks (21-9), a balanced team led by seniors Jacob Kang and Hudson Novak and junior Cooper Bladow, are home Friday against St. Paul (21-9).
Two Freeway League teams, Sunny Hills (23-7) and Fullerton (15-14), advanced to the 4AA quarterfinals. Western (16-9) is in the 4A quarterfinals. Santa Ana (17-9) and Estancia (19-11) are in the 5AA quarterfinals.