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    Crean Lutheran boys basketball beats Canyon in wild Crestview League
    • January 18, 2025

    IRVINE – It was unlikely that a boys basketball team would go undefeated in the Crestview League.

    The five-team league is just too good and too balanced for that to happen.

    Crean Lutheran made sure of that Friday with a 62-51 win over Canyon in a league game at Crean Lutheran High.

    Canyon was the lone league team without a league loss going into Friday. And Cypress, the lone Crestview League team without a league win going into Friday, got its first Crestview win Friday with a victory over Foothill.

    The league standings after Friday: Crean Lutheran 3-1; Canyon 2-1; La Habra 2-2; Foothill 1-2; Cypress 1-3.

    All five league teams are in the Top 15 of the Orange County rankings.

    Crean Lutheran, No. 10 in the Orange County Top 25, is 10-9 overall. Canyon, which, as usual, has played a difficult schedule, is 17-5.

    The Canyon-Crean Lutheran game was only the second of the league’s nine games played so far that had a double-digit margin of victory.

    Sophomore guard Hunter Caplan led Crean Lutheran’s balanced scoring with 14 points. Jacob Majok, a 6-7 junior forward, scored 13 points with 10 rebounds and 6-8 junior forward Will Malual scored 13 with nine rebounds.

    The Saints played Friday without starting point guard Caden Jones, who was out because of the flu.

    Canyon 6-6 senior forward Brandon Benjamin scored 19 points with eight rebounds. As he has been most every night of his Canyon career, Benjamin was the game’s top scorer. But that was 12 points below his season average of 31 points a game.

    Benjamin on Friday was, as usual, surrounded by two or three opponents every time he touched the ball on offense. The long arms of Majok and Malual were all around him like vines on a fence.

    “They move their offense around him,” Majok said. “We played zone and the emphasis was on him. We didn’t let him get the ball in the paint.”

    It’s not that Benjamin, the Orange County player of the year two seasons ago, missed a bunch of shots or forced shots that are beyond his repertoire. He was 9 of 17 from the field (53 percent), all within 12 feet of the hoop. But his averages going into Friday were 22 shots per game and 12 shots made per game, and he went in shooting 58 percent.

    “We knew we had guys who can compete with him,” said Crean Lutheran coach Nate Klitzing. “Will and Jacob are great athletes and solid players.

    “We had a plan to try to slow him down and make him work hard, to be aware of where he is the whole time. Benjamin can score from every level. He’s crafty and smart.”

    Canyon senior guard Staf Yilmazturk scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, with seven rebounds.

    It was 23-23 at halftime. Malual, attacking the boards on the offensive end, scored seven points in the third quarter as the Saints outscored Canyon 16-9 to take a 39-32 lead into the fourth quarter.

    Majok began the final quarter with a 3-pointer, Nez Reynolds followed with a 3 and one minute into the quarter Crean Lutheran had a 13-point lead.

    Canyon has a history of fierce fourth-quarter play, and it closed the gap behind Benjamin’s eight points in the final quarter points, two 3s from Yilmazturk and a 3 by Rami Awad, whose shot got Canyon within one point, 52-51, in the final minute.

    From there, Matt Ciftcikara was 4 of 4 at the free throw line for Crean Lutheran, and Majok put an exclamation point on the game with a thunderous dunk in the final seconds.

    “We tried to make a statement tonight,” Majok said. “That win really helped us. We needed that.”

    Crean Lutheran and Canyon play in a single-day showcase event Saturday at North Torrance. Crean Lutheran plays Damien (17-6) at 10:30 a.m. Canyon plays Inglewood (18-6), which is led by junior guard Jason Crowe Jr., who is averaging 36 points a game, at 7:30 p.m.

    Canyon resumes Crestview League play with a home game against Foothill on Tuesday. Crean Lutheran’s next league game is Friday, Jan. 24, at home against La Habra.

    Also in the Crestview League Friday:

    No. 15 Cypress 72, No. 14 Foothill 65: Ryan Gov’s 26 points led the Centurions (15-9, 1-3) over the Knights (14-8, 1-2) for Cypress’ first league win.

     Orange County Register 

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