With NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce sitting behind the bench while smiling in his fashionable shades, Lynwood High‘s group of talented freshmen, led by 14-year-old Jason Crowe Jr., put on an NBA-like show at the home of the Sacramento Kings on Friday afternoon to win the state Division V boys’ basketball championship 89-58 over Tollhouse Sierra.
It might be the start of something big since Lynwood started four freshmen.
“We set a goal before they leave to be in the Open Division,” Lynwood coach Jason Crowe Sr. declared afterward.
His son, averaging 34 points, scored 36 in the win. Crowe Jr. made a three-pointer from well beyond the top of the key in the third quarter that would have had LaMelo Ball cheering. Another freshman, Chace Holley, scored 24 points, making 10 of 13 shots.
Crowe Sr. called his son “the best player in the state” and admitted he might be sounding “a little LaVar Ball-ist.”
“We keep waiting for him to not have a great game,” he said. “He doesn’t do it. It’s been amazing to watch.”
Crowe Jr. picked up his third foul in the second quarter and his father didn’t remove him to prevent a possible fourth foul in the first half. He went out briefly but soon returned and didn’t commit another foul.
“He knew I would get it done,” Crowe Jr. said. “I knew I couldn’t get another foul. Me and him have a bond, we can trust each other.”
Crowe’s 36 points ties the Division V state record and ranks only behind Glendora’s Tracy Murray (64 points), Cloverdale’s Craig McMillan (37) and Santa Margarita’s Klay Thompson (37) for most in a title game. Crowe finished the season with 1,293 points, third-best in state history.
Logan Kilbert scored 19 points for Sierra, a small school of 315 that received a police escort from its local law enforcement. It was Lynwood’s first boys’ state title.
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