Notre Dame Cleans Up at Crespi After a Slopfest, 54-42

There are banners hanging in the Crespi High gym that advertise a wine-tasting party next week.

Crespi fans can only hope that the vine will bear sweeter fruit than the Celt basketball team, which lost to rival Notre Dame, 54-42, in a Del Rey League game Saturday night at Crespi.

“That’s about as poor and nervous as we’ve been,” said Crespi Coach Paul Muff, whose team lost its ninth straight game. “I don’t think we can play any poorer than that.”

Crespi (1-11, 0-3) missed its first six shots and was down, 7-0, before finally scoring a basket. The Celts missed eight free throws in the first quarter and shot just 30% from the field.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame--which hasn’t been enjoying a Champagne season itself--got a premium performance from junior forward Bruce Heicke, who led all scorers with 24 points. Heicke’s play helped offset the impact of 22 Notre Dame turnovers.

“It was kind of an ugly game,” Notre Dame Coach Mick Cady said. “There wasn’t much there, entertainment-wise. Hopefully, we’ll start to get some offense. It’s not too much fun watching a team bricking it up all night.”

Despite its sloppy play, Notre Dame won its second straight league game. The Knights ended a four-game skid of their own with a win Friday night over St. John Bosco and finally get to play their first home game of the season Tuesday against Alemany.

“When you’re a first-year coach trying to schedule games, no one wants to play you at home,” Cady said. “I felt coming into league that we had played the toughest preseason schedule. Maybe it’s starting to pay off.”

Notre Dame led, 29-16, at the half behind the play of Heicke, who scored 14 points.

The second half was controlled by Kurt Schmiederer, Notre Dame’s 6-6 senior center, who had 15 points and seven rebounds.