Crespi loses to hot-shooting Damien in state boys basketball playoffs

ENCINO — With just under 30 seconds left in a state playoff game against Damien, Crespi’s boys basketball team was down by three points.

On an out-of-bounds play, the ball was mishandled by Damien and Crespi junior guard Carter Barnes tried to secure a steal.

The ball got away from him though and the Celts came up short in a loss to Damien 59-55 on Thursday in the second round of the CIF State Division I playoffs.

The loss ends the season for the Celts (21-14). Damien (29-7) advances and will host Crean Lutheran in the CIF Southern California Regional semifinals Saturday at 7 p.m.

After Barnes stumbled to the hardwood, Damien grabbed the loose ball and called a timeout. That led to the Spartans sealing the victory by making another free throw in the final seconds.

“We got the steal, and just the momentum was too fast. And we ended up turning the ball over,” Crespi junior guard Jasaiah Williams said of the play in the final minute. “We played with heart. That’s what honestly brought us back tonight.”

Crespi was down 48-43 at the end of the third quarter and was able to keep it close throughout the fourth.

The Celts found success attacking the point rather than Damien’s long-range attack. Crespi bested the Spartans 32-8 in points in the paint, but got outshot from beyond the arc, 11-2.

Damien ran offensive sets designed to create opportunities for its 3-point shooters. Even when Crespi defended them well, the Spartans were able to knock down shots with the slightest of room.

“With the switching, it was tough because they set a lot of screens for each other,” Williams said. “If you don’t talk (on defense), they’ll get open shots like they did tonight.”

Williams led Crespi with 13 points and was a force on the defensive end, having one steal and one block.

He bought into the attack-minded Celts’ approach on the offensive end. His aggression led to him getting six attempts at the free-throw line.

As a team, the Celts missed four free throw attempts, which was the difference between the two teams in the final score.

There are a multitude of plays that decide a basketball game, but Williams knows the Celts struggled with free throws all season.

“Free throws are definitely a big part of our season,” Williams said. “We’ve missed plenty of free throws in games like this, and they always come back to bite us in the butt.”

Despite Damien’s scoring runs and barrage of 3-pointers, Crespi continued to battle to keep the game close.

“But I love that we played as a team,” Williams said. “We played for each other tonight, and it wasn’t for our individualities. And that’s what I love about our team.”