McGee Keeps Crespi Out of the Doghouse

It has been a tough week for Crespi High Coach Paul Muff. First his team lost its first two Del Rey League games. Then the family dog ran away to join a Bavarian circus.

OK, the dog didn’t really leave, but Muff would have planned a long vacation if the Celts had not beaten Bosco Tech, 63-56, Saturday night at Crespi.

“If we had lost this game, our chances of doing anything in the league would have been nil,” Muff said.

If it hadn’t been for Chris McGee, nil would be now.

A 6-foot, 3-inch junior, McGee made 4 of 5 three-point attempts in the game and four crucial free throws in the final quarter, finishing with a team-high 16 points.

“Chris was in his rhythm and when he’s in his rhythm, he’s unstoppable,” Crespi guard Matt Turner said.

McGee entered the game in the second quarter and made three three-point shots as Crespi turned a five-point lead into a 30-22 halftime advantage.

“I just concentrated,” McGee said. “I wanted to be in a pressure situation and come through.”

The pressure really mounted in the fourth quarter after McGee was fouled with 52 seconds remaining and Crespi leading, 58-52. McGee made both free throws and added another pair 14 seconds later as the Celts’ lead grew to 10.

“It felt right tonight,” McGee said.

After intermission Crespi seemed headed for a repeat performance of Tuesday night’s 49-46 loss at Alemany. The Celts (9-7, 1-2) built a seemingly insurmountable lead, then let their opponent back into the game with a sloppy quarter.

“We were seeing shades of that in the third quarter,” Muff said. “We had some lapses. We came out flat.”

Crespi led, 30-22, at the start of the second half but Bosco Tech (6-8, 1-1) outscored the Celts, 19-13, to close to within two. The Tigers made 7 of 10 shots during the third quarter.

Five minutes into the period with Crespi ahead, 36-29, Bosco Tech’s Chris Serafin made a basket and was fouled. Serafin’s free throw missed, but the Tigers’ German Pinon grabbed the rebound and scored another basket as he was fouled.

Pinon made the free throw, completing a five-point play, and Crespi’s comfortable lead had shrunk to just two points.

The teams stayed even until the fourth quarter, when Crespi went on an 8-1 run at the outset of the period. Bosco Tech got as close as four points midway through the quarter, but Crespi sank its free throws (8 of 13) and Bosco Tech didn’t (3 of 11, including the front end of six one-and-one situations).

“We were more in control than in the Alemany game,” Turner said. “We put it together at the end.”

And the big finish saved Crespi from being finished one week into the league season.

Crespi center Ken Lynch scored 11 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Lynch, a 6-4 junior, also was instrumental in slowing down Bosco Tech’s all-league center, Carlos Carrillo, who scored 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting.