Crean Lutheran boys basketball holds off Foothill with a nudge from Jacob Majok ...Middle East

IRVINE – Jacob Majok has a 34-inch vertical jump and a smile that can launch a thousand flash-bulbs. He also has a pretty good move or two on the basketball court.

His moves on Monday left he and his Crean Lutheran teammates all smiles. And the move? It was deserving of a thousand flash bulbs.

Majok scored a game-high 20 points, and his three-point play with 35 seconds remaining turned out to be the winner in the Saints’ 49-48 Crestview League victory over Foothill.

Ranked No. 5 in Orange County, Crean Lutheran improved to 13-11 overall, 5-1 in league play. With only two games remaining – against Cypress and Canyon – Crean has guaranteed itself at least a .500 record and a playoff spot.

“This is what it is,” Foothill coach Yousof Temadi said afterward, proud of his players’ resilience on a night when 10th-ranked Foothill fell to 14-12 overall, 1-5 in league.

All five teams in the Crestview League are ranked No. 11 or better in the Orange County Top 25.

Crean coach Nate Klitzing, who was happy to get a second one-point win over Foothill this season, concurred: “This is what it’s like every night.”

“Foothill is very good,” Majok said. “Every game in this league is a fight.”

Crean was left with smiles but took its lumps along the way.

The Saints bolted to a 16-6 lead only to watch Foothill cut it to 16-14 with an 8-0 barrage in the final 60 seconds of the first quarter, courtesy of 3-pointers by Blake Pearson and Lorenzo Turner sandwiched around a bucket underneath by Braeden Davidson, who played the past two seasons at Crean Lutheran.

Foothill eventually took the lead at 20-19 and 24-22, but the Knights could never quite stay on the downside of the hump.

Part of that was because of some clutch play by Crean Lutheran.

Tied at 24-24 at halftime, Majok scored inside twice in the first 30 seconds of the third quarter for a 28-24 lead.

When Foothill tied it, Crean Lutheran’s Caden Jones answered with a 3-pointer to go up 31-28, and Pearson followed with a 3 to make it 34-29. That’s the way it played out the rest of the way – Foothill making a run, Crean answering with a tripwire to keep the Knights behind them.

The game was decided in the fourth quarter and Crean holding a 39-37 advantage. Majok scored on a spin move inside in the opening minute, and Hunter Caplan popped a 21-footer from the wing to go up 42-37 with 5 minutes 28 seconds remaining.

“He’s pretty clutch,” Klitzing said of Caplan. “He seems to hit them when it counts the most.”

Jones was in the right spot under the basket when the ball was saved from going out of bounds and he made it 44-37 with 4:56 to go.

Then Foothill’s Danny Kennard and Davidson scored four points apiece in an 8-2 run to make it 46-45 with 2:26 remaining. It was still anyone’s game.

In position to get the lead, Foothill called a timeout with one minute remaining. Kai Nixon drove to the basket, and his shot was blocked by 6-foot-9 Will Maiual. The Saints’ Jones grabbed the ball and made a pass to Majok, who got it at the Saints’ 3-point line.

“I knew I had to make it,” Majok said.

Kennard, who is 6-11, “was on my right so I changed lanes. I jump-stopped and finished on my left.”

His layup off the glass was good, and Kennard fouled him in the process.

If there was any justice in life, Majok’s name would be pronounced “magic,” but instead the 6-7 Majok man added the free throw to make it 49-45 with 35 seconds remaining.

“He’s a tough guard at this level,” Etemadi said. “He’s pretty good.”

“He’s an animal,” Klitzing said of Majok. “He’s relentless. His motor is off the charts. He won’t be stopped, and he makes so many plays out of nothing.”

But there was something there this time, largely because of Maiual’s heroic block.

“Shout out to Will for the blocked shot, that was huge,” Klitzing said. “Defense leading to offense.”

Unofficially, Maiual had five blocks.

With the clock ticking down, the pressure was on Foothill. To be fair, the Knights responded like a champion. Nixon made a three-point play with 27 seconds remaining, and they caught a break when Maiual missed two free throws with 23 seconds left and the score 49-48.

With the ball, Foothill called a timeout with 17 seconds left to diagram what it hoped would be the winning play. It didn’t happen. Blake Pearson got an open look from the corner with three seconds remaining, but his shot didn’t fall.

Majok was fouled on the rebound, and he went to the free throw line with 1.2 seconds to go.

He missed both shots, finishing 4 of 10 from the charity stripe.

“I’m waking up at 4 in the morning and working on my free throws,” he said.

Caplan complemented Majok with 10 points, and Jones had nine.

Foothill got 15 points from Davidson, 14 from Kennard and 11 from Lorenzo Turner.

“I thought the game was played at our pace,” Etemadi said. “”We’ve got to make free throws. We got a good look at the basket at the end, but we’ve got to make shots.”

Foothill was 6 of 13 from the free throw line, and 36.5 percent from the field (19 of 52).

But there is a silver lining, even for a team that’s in last place in the Crestview League.

“This is preparing us for the playoffs,” he said. “We’re battle tested.”

That may not set off any flash bulbs, but it’s got to make him smile.

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