Breakfast Helps Crespi Fastbreak to Victory

If you are playing a basketball game at 9:30 a.m. the day after Christmas, you’d better make sure your players are raring to go.

So Crespi High Coach Dick Dornan and his assistants held a pancake breakfast for their players at 7 a.m. Saturday before playing Campbell Hall in the opening game of the 16-team Chaminade tournament.

Banana pancakes, sausage and milk fueled the Celts, who defeated Campbell Hall, 61-48. Crespi advanced to a quarterfinal game against Grant on Monday at 4 p.m.

“It’s not easy to play in the morning when you’re use to playing at night or in the afternoon,” Dornan said.

Marcin Jagoda scored 14 points for Crespi (7-2) and fellow seniors Blake Tibbetts and Pat Dornan, the coach’s brother, each had 12.

The 6-foot-1 Tibbetts also helped hold senior Josh Levy of Campbell Hall (9-4) to nine points, three in the first three quarters.

Crespi led, 31-22, at halftime before going on a 9-2 run to start the third quarter.

Tibbets scored five points and sophomore Andrew Moore had four during the blitz, when the Celts took a 40-24 lead with six minutes to play in the quarter.

Campbell Hall’s Jesse Foster, a 6-7 junior, scored 22 points.

Crespi should get better if 6-8 junior Gregg Guenther and 6-2 sophomore Michael Luderer return from foot and ankle injuries by mid-January, as expected. Pat Casella, a 5-11 junior, is rounding into form after an ankle injury and played some quality minutes Saturday.

“If Luderer and Guenther return and Casella gets back in shape, we should be a pretty good ball club,” Dick Dornan said.

In other first-round games:

Grant 80, Lancaster 51--Gilbert Arenas scored 40 points and tied a Grant single-game record with 14 three-point baskets.

Arenas had six three-pointers and 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Grant (8-2) led, 16-0, midway through the first quarter, but Lancaster (2-6) cut the deficit to 47-43 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter on a basket by 6-5 junior Joe Dluzak.

Joe Dluzak scored 20 points for Lancaster and senior Lawrence Palma had 21, but the Eagles were outscored, 12-0, in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter to fall behind, 64-45.

Kennedy 64, Quartz Hill 63--Nana Gbewonyo scored a basket off his own miss with 25 seconds left for the Golden Cougars (5-2).

Quartz Hill (8-4) took a 63-61 lead with 2:02 to play on a basket by Brandon Butchart, but the Rebels missed their final four shots. Gbewonyo had 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Chaminade 60, Monroe 36--The Eagles (4-2) made 11 steals and held Monroe to one shot in the first quarter. Ryan Arceo scored 13 for Chaminade, ranked No. 4 in The Times’ regional poll. Chris Canoles and Darren Tarlow each grabbed nine rebounds for the Eagles.

El Camino Real 65, South Torrence 59--Justin Saad-Anthony scored 17 points, Eric Anderson added 14 and Josh James had 12 for El Camino Real (7-4).