New Commitment Chadrack Mpoyi

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TNGophfan said:
Great story. Sounds like he's just scratching the surface of his ability. Not sure how Niko got him, but he'll be a welcome addition in the paint.
Click to expand...
Yes, he has so much potential! Great story! He will become a star....so athletic and humble.
Great job Niko! Imagine this kid and the Maple Grove kid playing defense for Niko. Wayzata kid can maybe drain threes....could be exciting!
 





Santa Barbara High boys basketball’s season came to an end with an 87-61 loss at the hands of top-seeded Crean Lutheran in the CIF-SS Div. 1 playoff opener on Wednesday in Irvine.

“I challenged them to leave everything on the floor tonight and I know the score doesn’t reflect it, but we battled and fought as hard as we could,” Santa Barbara High head coach Greg Zuffelato said. “I was very proud of how hard they worked.

“This young team had big shoes to fill after a historic season last year and they have worked so hard to get us to where we ended the season, which was back in Division 1, which no one could ever have predicted after losing 14 seniors. This is a special group of young athletes, and they’re all back next year.”

Santa Barbara High rounds out the season with an overall record of 19-9, including the program’s third straight Channel League title.


Big man nets 30 in playoff opener!
 




Probably from another source...an excerpt of it....
They came out fired up Wednesday, led by dominating center Chadrack Mpoyi, who had one of his best games of the season scoring 30 points. Jacob Majok was also outstanding scoring 18 points. Caden Jones scored 12 points and Nick Giarrusso 10 points for the Saints.

Both Mpoyi and Majok had some dazzling dunks which brought the Saints fans to their feet.

“Eleven days, it kind of ended up being a blessing because three or four of our starters got sick during that time,” said Coach Austin Loeb. “And we were able to use the time to recover, I’m just thankful they’re healthy now. I’m proud of the way we competed on the defensive end …. defense wins championships. We forced a lot of turnovers, I’m proud of the way we shared the ball and when we do that and we play good defense, we’re a tough team to beat. I think we showed that today.

“I’m excited to build off this, excited to get a home win to start playoffs in front of our fans and now we go on the road against Santiago. I’m sure that’s going to be a tough place to play. But we wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Santa Barbara (19-9) had one player 6-7, but and had little success containing the 6-11 Mpoyi, who had 16 points in the second half to help the Saints pull away.

“He did a really good job of running the floor today,” Loeb said. “When he was able to run, he just attracts so much attention in transition and credit to our guys. They found him and I think he had a couple monsterous dunks when he got some steals in transition …. he’s adding to his game, he’s evolving, he’s not just a low post threat, he can pass now, he’s knocked down a couple of three’s and I’m proud of his development. He’s a big part of our engine and we’re going to go as far as he takes us.”

Mpoyi was pleased with the victory, but said the Saints still need to step up their game to reach their goals.

“We got to stay more focused on our game,” Mpoyi said. “We’ve got to do better, we’re going to play great teams, but mostly, it’s about us. We have to be more focused and ready to go every night.”
 

60's Guy said:
Probably from another source...an excerpt of it....
They came out fired up Wednesday, led by dominating center Chadrack Mpoyi, who had one of his best games of the season scoring 30 points. Jacob Majok was also outstanding scoring 18 points. Caden Jones scored 12 points and Nick Giarrusso 10 points for the Saints.

Both Mpoyi and Majok had some dazzling dunks which brought the Saints fans to their feet.

“Eleven days, it kind of ended up being a blessing because three or four of our starters got sick during that time,” said Coach Austin Loeb. “And we were able to use the time to recover, I’m just thankful they’re healthy now. I’m proud of the way we competed on the defensive end …. defense wins championships. We forced a lot of turnovers, I’m proud of the way we shared the ball and when we do that and we play good defense, we’re a tough team to beat. I think we showed that today.

“I’m excited to build off this, excited to get a home win to start playoffs in front of our fans and now we go on the road against Santiago. I’m sure that’s going to be a tough place to play. But we wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Santa Barbara (19-9) had one player 6-7, but and had little success containing the 6-11 Mpoyi, who had 16 points in the second half to help the Saints pull away.

“He did a really good job of running the floor today,” Loeb said. “When he was able to run, he just attracts so much attention in transition and credit to our guys. They found him and I think he had a couple monsterous dunks when he got some steals in transition …. he’s adding to his game, he’s evolving, he’s not just a low post threat, he can pass now, he’s knocked down a couple of three’s and I’m proud of his development. He’s a big part of our engine and we’re going to go as far as he takes us.”

Mpoyi was pleased with the victory, but said the Saints still need to step up their game to reach their goals.

“We got to stay more focused on our game,” Mpoyi said. “We’ve got to do better, we’re going to play great teams, but mostly, it’s about us. We have to be more focused and ready to go every night.”
Click to expand...
Crean Lutheran advances. Another strong game from Chadwick.
 


www.ocregister.com

Boys basketball playoffs: Crean Lutheran, JSerra advance to CIF-SS semifinals

OCVarsity’s roundup has the highlights from the boys basketball games in the CIF-SS playoffs Tuesday.
www.ocregister.com www.ocregister.com

ocsportszone.com

PHOTOS: Top-seeded Crean Lutheran rolls into semifinals with win over Village Christian -

Crean Lutheran's Hunter Caplan shoots over Myles Mobley of Village Christian Tuesday night. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano, Ted Rigoni and Howard Lyon). Top-seeded Crean Lutheran dominated from the opening tip-off and cruised to an 83-58 victory over No. 8 seed Village...
ocsportszone.com ocsportszone.com
 

If I read the schedules correctly, Crean plays again tonight.

Side note from the last game….he was 10/11 from the field….that leaves room for improvement!
 

It will be nice having a legit big body athletic big. If he can be Pharrel Payne with a jump shot and some handles sign me up. How's his free throw shooting?
 

Crean Lutheran won again the other night 57-55 to advance to the championship game,

The Saints (25-7) advance to the CIF finals next weekend and will face No. 2 JSerra, which defeated Inglewood 103-91 Friday. Day and location will be announced later.

Trailing at halftime, Crean Lutheran outscored the Eagles 38-21 in the second half to reach its first final since 2021.

Hunter Caplan scored 25 points, including 16 points in the second half, to lead the Saints surge. Caplan drilled five 3-pointers in the game and four critical free throws in the final 50 seconds to seal the win.

“It’s an amazing win and a dream come true to be going to the finals,” said Caplan, who scored 10 points in the third quarter to turn a five-point halftime deficit into a 48-46 Saints lead after three quarters. “We came out here to play with no regrets. Now we have to go and win it all.”

After getting into first half foul trouble that placed him on the bench, senior guard Nicholas Giarrusso turned in a spectacular second half defensive effort that sparked the Saints.

“I was mad when I got my third foul and had to come out of the game in the first half,” said Giarrusso. “I knew I was going back into the game in the second half, so I stayed composed and did whatever I had to do to help the team win. Even when we fell behind by eight points late in the first half, Coleman and Jones then hit big baskets down the stretch and it gave us momentum going into halftime. This is the furthest I’ve been in the playoffs. It’s amazing.”

Giarrusso pulled down eight rebounds, had several steals and four assists, and his presence on the floor disrupted the Eagles’ attack.

Key performances from teammates Jacob Majok, Caden Jones, Will Malual and Bryce Coleman boosted the Saints attack.

Majok scored 14 points and had eight rebounds as he and Chadrack Mpoyi physically battled the Rancho Christian bigs in the paint throughout the game.

“We really came together and picked each other up,” said Majok. “When one of us wins, we all win.”

Coleman played a crucial role as he entered the game to replace Giarrusso after he got into foul trouble. Coleman, a senior forward, was tasked with guarding high-scoring Rancho Christian guard JJ Profit. Coleman’s defense was effective as he helped limit Profit to five points in the second half.

“I’m a football player and I knew my part was to play defense, get turnovers and hit the open player,” said Coleman, who scored who scored seven points and will be attending Columbia next fall to play football.

After returning to the lineup for the first time in nearly three weeks after suffering a foot injury, Malual played a few minutes in the second half and paid valuable dividends.

“It was hard not to be playing but this is an amazing win for was,” said Malual, who’s basket in the final seconds of the third quarter gave the Saints a 48-46 lead after three periods.

Crean Lutheran upped it lead to 52-45 following baskets by Caplan and Majok at the 4:51 mark of the final quarter. The Saints then scored on their next four possessions to increase its lead. Mpoyi’s back-to-back buckets gave Crean Lutheran a 60-50 lead with 2:15 to play. The Saints finished the game by scoring on nine of their final 10 possessions to secure the win.

Crean Lutheran Coach Austin Loeb said he was proud of the way his team responded in the second half.

“Kudos to all the guys with the way they played in the second half,” said Loeb. “Nick (Giarrusso) helped us pressure the ball and that helped us free up Hunter to hit 3s. Caden (Jones) helped carry us in the first half. We used our size and our length and it made the difference. We also got a lot of energy from our fans who filled up half the gym. They drove all the way out here to support us and they were loud and supportive.”

Rancho Christian’s Coach Jalen Lake said the better team won tonight.

“They executed better and they wanted it more than we did,” said Lake. “We missed our opportunity to increase our lead and we did not capitalize. We also gave up too many second chance points. They were the better team and they served to win.”

Profit scored 19 points and Tony Rutledge added 15 points for the Eagles (22-10).

NOTES:
 

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