Story Created:
Feb 25, 2010 at 12:32 PM PST
Story Updated:
Feb 25, 2010 at 12:32 PM PST
Ed Waters wants nothing more than the Crenshaw High School boys basketball program to return to the level of the glory years its enjoyed under legendary coach Willie West.
The third-year coach has the Cougars headed in the right direction.
With Wednesday’s 84-76 victory over visiting Birmingham, third-seeded Crenshaw (21-3) has earned the right to face No. 2 Taft (23-4) in the City Section Division I semifinals Friday at Galen Center.
“This is really meaningful because it’s been such a long time we’ve been in the final four,” Waters said. “This gives us an automatic bid to the regionals and a chance to win state. We’ve talked about this from the beginning and we’re excited about the opportunity to play Taft.”
Crenshaw owns a record 16 City and eight State titles, but none since 1997. Over the past decade the program has been passed by the likes of Westchester, Fairfax and Taft.
Westchester, which faces Washington Prep in the other semifinal at Galen Center, is the defending State Division I champion and a nationally-ranked team. Taft is considered a close second.
Asked how his undersized Cougars stacks up against Taft and Waters said, “We’ve played a similar team in Price (which won, 90-86 in overtime).”
Crenshaw’s one-two senior backcourt punch of Reynaul Baker and Deuce Zaid will be the key to success against Taft.
Against Birmingham in the quarters, Baker had 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Zaid had 20 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
“I feel Reynaul and Deuce have laid a good foundation for future championships here,” the coach said. “They’ve been here for four years. They came here in the ninth grade and stayed until the 12th, which is good for the program and the community. They helped me win a JV championship and go 26-0.
“What I want college coaches to know about them is that they are winners. Don’t worry about what position they’ll play. You’re getting basketball players. Just get them in there, then worry about that.”
Wednesday, they also got a big game from forward Darnell Taylor, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Crenshaw played as good a basketball for three quarters as it has in any game this season.
The Cougars jumped out to a 15-2 lead and continued to build on it, taking a 68-43 advantage into the final quarter.
Birmingham (15-12), which was led by Sahdi Odu’s 27 points and eight rebounds and Angel Gutierrez, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, eventually trimmed the advantage to eight points at the end.
Waters said the first 24 minutes was “as good as we’ve played all year.”
As for the last eight, he added, “We let down a little. Guys were thinking it was over.”
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