Crenshaw Back in City Finals, Again

When the high school playoff seedings for the City Section Division 4-A boys’ basketball tournament were being determined two weeks ago, the 16-member committee must have been looking into a crystal ball.

Before things got confusing, one panel member blurted out: “Let’s make things easy on ourselves: Put Crenshaw one, Westchester two and go from there. Agreed?”

No one argued. Two weeks later, their system proved to work.

After second-seeded Westchester (24-5) advanced to the championship game with a victory over Palisades last Friday, top-seeded Crenshaw (22-3) followed suit with a 92-68 thumping over Manual Arts Saturday night in a semifinal game at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The Cougars built a commanding first-half lead as senior Alastair Faux scored a game-high 36 points, 22 coming in the first half.

“We wanted to come out and jump on them early like we did against Washington,” Faux said. “We didn’t want to let them think they could win this one. We wanted to step on their throats.”

It didn’t take long for the Cougars to do that.

In the early stages of the first quarter, Crenshaw trailed, 4-2. A little more than two minutes later, the Cougars were up 15-4 and didn’t look back.

Using a fastbreak offense and a full-court press on defense for most of the half, Crenshaw built a commanding 55-28 halftime lead.

Its chokehold loosened a little in the second half, bringing some concern to Crenshaw Coach Willie West.

“In the first half we came out and accomplished what we wanted to do,” West said. “We let down in the second half like we have been doing all year. We can’t maintain the same intensity all game.”

The intensity may have been lacking on part of the Cougars because they were expecting to play fourth-seeded Fairfax.

Fairfax defeated Manual Arts in the quarterfinals Wednesday night, only to have that game called a forfeit the next day after it was discovered the Lions used an ineligible player.

Crenshaw will have the opportunity to defend its 4-A title Friday 8 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

The game will be a rematch of the 1992 finals, which Westchester won, 87-71. Since then, Crenshaw has won four consecutive titles.

The Cougars continue to show balance with 11 players scoring, including three in double-figures.

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City Championships

Boys

* Division 4-A

Crenshaw vs. Westchester at Sports Arena, Friday, 8 p.m.

* Division 3-A

Bell vs. Franklin at Cal State L.A., Saturday, 3 p.m.

Girls

* Division 4-A

Crenshaw vs. Narbonne at Sports Arena, Friday 6 p.m.

* Division 3-A

Gardena vs. Hamilton at Cal State L.A., Saturday, 1 p.m.