ONTARIO – Six-foot-five senior Nick Giarrusso scored 12 of his team’s 16 fourth-quarter points Saturday evening to help Crean Lutheran knock off another Orange County-based program, JSerra, 59-52, in the CIF Southern Section Divison1 basketball championship game in the Toyota Arena.
The Lancers (26-7) – who lost to eventual Division 1 champion Los Alamitos in the 2025 semifinals – led from midway through the first quarter before the Lions (23-13) went ahead, 50-49, via a 3-ponter from senior Hunter Frates with 2:10 to play.
Six-eleven, University of Minnesota-bound Chadrack Mpoyi, caught a tipped pass from reserve forward Bryce Coleman, laid the ball in well above the rim while being fouled and converted the free throw to put Crean Lutheran back up by two points 14 seconds after Frates’ 3.
The Lions and Lancers exchanged a turnover and rushed (and missed) shot before JSerra tied the score on a drive right for a layup by junior guard E.J. Bryson (with a game-high 21 points) with 1:16 to go.
After first-year Head Coach Austin Loeb called a timeout with 1:04 remaining, his Lancers executed to perfection when play resumed.
Four crisp passes led to Giarrusso getting a clean look from beyond the top of the key and he knocked in the 3 with 50.2 to go.
After a JSerra timeout, Mpoyi picked off a pass on the Lions’ side of the floor and got the ball to Giarrusso, whose closed out his team-high 14 points with four free throws in the final 21 seconds.
The Lancers and Lions were the top seeds in the division and were No’s 2-3 in Orange County during the regular season behind Santa Margarita (the No. 2 overall seed in the Open Division).
They’ll be in the Southern Regional Division I bracket when the CIF State office (in Sacramento) releases the pairings Sunday afternoon.
Their respective seeds are tough to project since that field (which could go as deep as 16 teams) is expected to include as many as six Southern Section teams that didn’t advance to the Open semifinals.
JSerra Coach Keith Wilkinson, whose team has played its best basketball over the past five weeks, was reasonably pleased his defense responded to the points of emphasis he gave the Lions while prepping for the Lancers during the week.
“No. 1 was their big man (Mpoyi) and I thought G.C. (6-6, 260-pound junior G.C. Eboigbodin did a good job on him down low and we were able to dig down (with help defenders) on him,” Wilkinson said, “and only got seven shots.
“No. 2 was Caplan (elite shooting junior guard Hunter Caplan). He got loose a couple of times in the first half (knock three 3s; but had just a layup and two free throws while often being face-guard then doubled when he had the ball) but I was happy with how we defended him.”
It was Giarrusso (a summer transfer from Oaks Christian in thousand Oaks) who finally stretch Wilkinson’s defense to the breaking point.
He missed his only two shots in the first half but hit a layup in the third quarter before his fourth quarter before closing out the title run in the fourth quarter with two deep 3s, sandwich around a layup, and those four free throws.
“I think he’s a Division 1 (college) player,” Wilkinson said.
“He makes the right ‘basketball play’ every time. He’s a big-time player and big-time player make big-time plays in big-time moments.”
In the three “morning/early afternoon” finals in the Toyota Arena:
D-3
Murrietta Mesa 65, Aliso Niguel 58: The Rams built a 20-point edge late in the third quarter and then held off a spirited rally by the Wolverines,
Seven players scored at least seven points for the Rams (23-10/with 16 wins in past 17 games), led by 18 points from Jagger Saul.
D-2
Bishop Amat 71, Hesperia 48: The Lancers won their first section championship in 24 years with their first title appearance in eight seasons, never trailing while scoring the first six points and leading by as many as 24 points after three quarters.
Four players – led by sophomore Aiden Shaw’s 20 points – scored in double figures for the 29-5 Lancers, who finished second in the Camino Real League behind Bishop Montgomery (a first-round loser, to Windward, at home in Division 1) and ahead of Serra (which won the D-5 Friday night).
Shaw added game highs of nine rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and five steals.
D-9
Colton 55, Pacific 42: The Yellowjackets (19-11) took a 13-point lead at intermission and cruised over the final 16 minutes to win the program’s first-ever Southern Section crown in their first championship appearance in 106 years.
Senior guard Andres Elenes led the winners with 23 points in their 12th consecutive win.
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