Crenshaw Christian added two losses and a win to their non-conference record after facing East Memorial Christian, Northside Methodist Academy and Sparta Academy. The team stands at 4-2 in non-conference play.

 

CCA 82, EMCA 86

Crenshaw lost in double overtime to EMCA last Thursday. Leading scorers in the game were Milos Zeradanin with 29 points and Alex Divjakovic with 17 points. Britt Kelley and Preston Worley were each good for 11 points.

 

CCA 82, NMA 74

In Saturday’s matchup against Northside, Zeradanin once again took the lead, with 31 points. Hunter Weeks hit 17 points. Sophomore Brandon White and junior Divjakovic each made seven points.

 

CCA 52, SA 64

In Monday’s game, Divjakovic led with 19 points. Weeks added 12 points to the score. White had seven points and Glenn added six.

 

CCA head coach John Hii stressed defense during the games.

“Whenever we play good defense, we win,” he said. “Everybody knows, offense wins games. Defense wins championships.”

Weeks, the team’s lone senior, just returned from All-Star football. Hii said he was sorely missed.

“Not having him against East Memorial killed us,” he added.

Though, the team had a successful night against Northside, Hii noticed energy was down.

“Our saving grace was our championship-caliber effort,” he said.

When Northside threatened to overtake Crenshaw, the team pulled 3-pointers out of its arsenal. The Cougars made seven of them in the game.

Hii said the high scoring was the product of good shot selection. Players seized every opportunity Northside gave them.

“We can be dangerous if teams leave us open,” he said. “This team has the makings to be something special, as long as they continue this effort.”

The Lady Cougars had a similar week to the boys, chalking up two losses and a win as of Monday.

 

CCA 57, EMCA 47

Lead scorers were Katarina Lazovic with 27 points, Isadora Savkovic with 16 points and Railey Ayers with 10 points.

 

CCA 51, NMA 67

Lead scorers were Lazovic with 16 points and Savkovic with 14.

 

CCA 29, SA 49

The Sparta Warriors came in to the game undefeated. The team now has a 9-0, 5-0 record.

 

The hardest game for Hii to watch was against Northside. The Lady Cougars nearly made up a seven-point deficit from the first quarter scoring 21 points in the second quarter to Northside’s 15. The score at the half was 32-31 Northside. Crenshaw rallied in the third quarter to take the lead, going in to the fourth quarter, 45-44.

The final quarter proved to be all Northside. The team scored 23 points while Crenshaw put up another six points.

Hii said his young team had trouble handling such a close game, but learned a lot from the experience. Despite the losses the team has grown leaps and bounds this season.

“Last year, they won two games and this year, we are 4-3,” he said.