Crespi Falls Short of Harvard, 55-54

Emotion is nice, but height is better.

Crespi High dedicated the game to former Coach Paul Muff, who died last week, but Harvard-Westlake countered with 6-foot-7 twins Jason and Jarron Collins.

The Collins brothers dominated inside, shooting over Crespi’s shorter players, and Harvard held on for a 55-54 Mission League victory Thursday night at Crespi.

“They are tough on the blocks,” Crespi Coach Pat Yerina said. “They can just shoot over us. Brett Nordyke played great defense, but you can’t stop 6-7 if you are 6-3.”

Despite the size disadvantage, the Celts had a shot to win, but Gianandrea Marcaccini’s three-pointer bounced off the back of the rim at the final buzzer.

What kept Crespi in the game was that Harvard could do nothing from the outside to complement its inside game.

The Wolverines did not make a basket from outside the paint until Ben Robbins’ 12-foot jumper with 3 minutes 20 seconds to play in the third quarter.

“Thank goodness we’ve got two big men,” said Harvard senior guard Scott Garson, one of the team’s best long-range shooters.

Jason Collins led the Wolverines (17-1, 7-1 in league play) with 22 points and four blocked shots. Jarron scored 14 points and blocked three shots.

“Jason and Jarron played great,” Garson said. “Even when we were missing, they put in the offensive rebounds.”

Marc Lubaszka led Crespi (7-10, 3-4) with 17 points. Nordyke added 16 and Marcaccini scored 14, including 10 in the third quarter.

Harvard dominated inside early--10 of its 11 baskets in the first quarter were layups or dunks. The other was a five-foot jumper by Jason Collins.

The Celts were pesky. Although they never led in the first half, they tied the score four times.

“They did a great job,” Garson said. “We didn’t know what to expect from them. They played really inspired.”

Lubaszka keyed a strong second quarter by hitting three consecutive three-pointers. He also had a steal and a layup with four seconds to play to tie the score, 26-26.

Harvard took a 53-48 lead with two minutes to play on a three-point play by Jarron Collins.

Trailing by one, Crespi took the ball out of bounds with four seconds left, setting up a 20-foot shot at the top of the key for Marcaccini.