FULLERTON – Any doubts that Orange Lutheran could cope in the CIF-SS Open Division of the boys basketball playoffs were eliminated Wednesday.
Orange Lutheran advanced to the Open semifinals with a 78-73 win over Centennial of Corona at Hope International University.
The Lancers (24-4) will play top-seeded Bishop Montgomery (28-1) in the semifinals Saturday at Hope University. Bishop Montgomery, ranked No. 3 in California behind No. 1 Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland and No. 2 Mater Dei, has won 20 in a row.
Some teams might have had mixed feelings about being picked to play in the elite, 16-team Open Division by the division’s selection committee. Lutheran craved the competition.
“We wanted to be in this Open Divison,” Orange Lutheran senior forward Keisean Lucier-South said. “We want to play the best. That’s who we are.”
Who they are is a team with multiple contributors. Four Lancers scored in double figures Wednesday. Lucier-South, a senior forward, scored 19 points with nine rebounds, senior guard C.J. Hankins scored 18, sophomore point guard Joseph Riley scored 15 with four 3-pointers and senior guard Rogers Printup scored 13 with three 3-pointers.
The balanced effort countered a superb game by Centennial senior point guard Sedrick Barefield. Barfield, who signed with SMU, scored 28 points, some of them on spectacular twisting drives to the basket.
Printup, who signed with UC Davis, made back-to-back 3s in the fourth quarter, the second of which came on a great kick-out pass from Riley that gave Lutheran an 11-point lead with 3:39 to play. Sophomore guard Chris Williams scored all of his four points on four free throws in the final 24 seconds.
Lucier-South, also an All-County football player who signed with UCLA, said Wednesday’s game provided an accurate picture of the Lancers.
“Everybody on the team has a role,” he said. “C.J. is our scorer, the guy who gets our momentum going. Rogers and Chris are the outside shooters, Riley is our best defender, I just get rebounds and Zack (Jervis) and Kavaughn (Scott) are the best sixth men around.”
Riley got the Lancers going with two 3-pointers in the first quarter. He added a pair of 3s in the third quarter.
Riley might be Lutheran’s most-energetic player, diving for loose balls and playing frenetic defense.
“If we have a fight at practice,” Lutheran coach Chris Nordstrom said, “Riley is in on it.”Centennial (22-5) is No. 6 in the state 20 compiled by CalHiSports.com. Lutheran, No. 11 in California, beat No. 12 Damien of La Verne in the first round.
Centennial’s season is not over. By winning an Open Division first-round game last week, the Huskies qualified for the CIF Southern California Regionals, which is the qualifying tournament for the CIF State Championships.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
