Sports
Basketball Playoffs: Roundup of Tuesday Games
Mission Viejo wins but Capo Valley loses in the semifinals. El Toro girls can't keep up with Huntington Beach.
After scoring only three points in the first half, Michael Cramer did what he does best in the second.
He lit up the scoreboard.
Cramer's big performance keyed top-seeded Mission Viejo's 65-60 boys' basketball victory over fourth-seeded Crescenta Valley Tuesday in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division 1A Championships.
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Mission Viejo (27-3) will play Orange Lutheran (20-10) at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena on Saturday, 8:30 p.m. It will follow the Division 1AA game between Mater Dei and Long Beach Poly. Ticket prices are $13 and $7 for the session; parking is $12.
Cramer finished with 20 points as Mission—holding a 33-32 halftime lead—overtook the Falcons for good early in the third quarter.
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The Diablos needed a comeback in the first half to make it work, though. They trailed after the first quarter, 22-15.
"I wasn’t being very aggressive in the first half and in the second half I knew I had to attack the basket more and take my open shots," Cramer said. "We went to the championship last year and lost. We’re ready to win it this year."
Cramer made nine of 10 shots from the free-throw line. He was supported by Max Redfield, who scored 14, and Evan Zeller, who had 11.
Davis Dragovic scored 13 for Crescenta Valley (26-5).
Orange Lutheran 67, Capistrano Valley 60: Coach Brian Mulligan said he was happy with the effort turned in by his second-seeded Cougars (25-5), but they just couldn't get the shots to fall, and they couldn't get many second shots, either.
In the end, they just couldn't answer the second of two significant runs by third-seeded Orange Lutheran (20-10), which many considered the best team in the division but was seeded third because of losses incurred during the absence of Gabe York, who had midseason appendicitis.
Lutheran had a 9-0 run in the second quarter that built a 26-18 advantage that Capo Valley eventually wiped out, on Jonny Bates' four-point play to tie the score at 32 in the third. But moments later, it happened again.
On the heels of Aleks Lipovic's three-point basket to bring Capo to 39-37 with 2:20 remaining in the quarter, Lutheran got a second consecutive rebound and putback by freshman Kendall Lauderdale, then Jordan Banks hit a three-point basket and York followed with a three-point play.
The 47-38 third-quarter cushion reached 13 points, 52-39, as Banks hit a three and York a 10-foot jumper before Stephen Short's three-pointer. It was a span of 5 minutes 44 seconds in which the only offense Capo could muster was two free throws by Lipovic.
Lipovic, the talented senior shooting guard, ended his career with a three-point basket with two seconds remaining, giving him 21 on the night. Bates had 14 and Short 10.
York scored 30 for Lutheran, and Banks had 24; no other Lancer scored more than four.
—Martin Henderson
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Huntington Beach 51, El Toro 39: The second-seeded Chargers (26-3) were turned back by a hail of three-point baskets by third-seeded Huntington Beach (25-4) in the Division 1A semifinals.
The victory sends the Oilers to the championship for the first time since 1978.
Playing on its home floor, El Toro got 20 points from Whitney Williams, but Huntington Beach had four players score between 11 and 14 points, led by Kelsey Minato, who had three of her team's six three-point baskets.
El Toro trailed after one quarter, 12-5, and at halftime, 22-17. Huntington Beach scored the first eight points of the third quarter to ice the game and El Toro's playoff hopes.
Alyson Doherty scored eight for El Toro, and Jasmine Kennon seven, but no other Charger scored more than two points.
See below for scores of all semifinals from Tuesday.
BOYS' BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Division 1AA
Long Beach Poly 56, Etiwanda 47
Mater Dei 61, Loyola 58
Division 1A
Mission Viejo 65, Crescenta Valley 60
Orange Lutheran 67, Capistrano Valley 60
Division 2AA
Inglewood 65, Thousand Oaks 36
Royal 74, Sunny Hills 62
Division 2A
Mayfair 59, Elsinore 50
Righetti 68, Colony 65
GIRLS" BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Division 1AA
Mater Dei 71, Corona Santiago 32
Brea Olinda 49, Long Beach Poly 43
Division 1A
Summit 76, Burbank 49
Huntington Beach 51, El Toro 39
Division 2AA
Lynwood 62, Keppel 60
Riverside North 65, Ventura 49
Division 2A
Foothill 54, Murrieta Valley 39
Norco 57, Culver City 51
