Notre Dame Cools Off Crespi as Pearson Finally Warms Up

Cody Pearson scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half to lead Notre Dame High to a 66-54 victory over host Crespi in a Mission League boys’ basketball game on Friday night.

Pearson, a senior guard averaging 25 points, was guarded closely by Crespi’s Andrew Moore in the first half and managed just one basket.

“They shut me down a little bit and Andrew is a great player. He was on me tight,” Pearson said. “But we are a senior team and I knew if we just kept running our offense, eventually I’d get some points.

“We came in with the attitude that we had to win our last three [regular-season] games and this was the first one.”

The win vaulted the Knights (18-5, 7-3 in league), ranked No. 9 in the region by The Times, into a tie for first place with Crespi and Loyola.

Crespi (17-6, 7-3), ranked No. 4 in the region, took a 15-4 lead. Notre Dame took its first lead, 26-25, on a three-point basket by David Salazar late in the second quarter, and led, 28-26, at halftime.

Michael Luderer scored 18 points for the Knights, who opened the second half with a 14-7 run to take control.

Moore led the Celts with 23 points, making three three-pointers, and forward Kingsley Anyanwu had 14 points.

Pearson’s running bank shot gave Notre Dame its biggest lead, 57-42, with 5:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.