Chargers man up, wear league crown

For the majority of the season, Clark's boys basketball team has relied on a zone defense.

But Chargers coach Chad Beeten decided to go with a different game plan Wednesday, and the move paid off.

Clark's man-to-man defense limited host Faith Lutheran to its lowest scoring output of the season, and the Chargers came away with a 63-45 victory to clinch their fourth consecutive Division I-A Sunset League title.

"We've been playing mostly zone all year, but I just couldn't see playing them zone and letting them pick us apart from (3-point range)," Beeten said. "We knew we just had to run them off the 3-point line and make them drivers as opposed to shooters. And if we made them drivers, we got the size inside to disrupt shots, and we did, and we were fortunate that they missed shots that they normally make."

Keyshawn Webb led Clark (18-2, 12-2 Sunset) with 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists, and teammate Darius Jackson finished with 15 points, including two spectacular alley-oop dunks.

Trey Woodbury added 11 points for the Chargers, who will open the Southern Region playoffs next week as the Sunset League's No. 1 seed despite forfeiting two league victories this season.

"We want the No. 1 seed for pride. We want to keep that consistent," Beeten said. "I know they took two (wins) away from us for a forfeit, but it was just a must-win game to get that No. 1 seed. And it was more of a situation where we just wanted it so we could have the No. 1 seed and then kind of prove that, OK, you can take two away from us, but we're still going to get it."

The Crusaders (17-7, 10-3) missed their first 10 field-goal attempts and trailed 27-20 at halftime. Faith Lutheran shot 32 percent from the field (16-for-50) overall and made only two of its 22 attempts from beyond the 3-point line.

Luke Bergen had a team-high 13 points off the bench, and Zach Friel added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Crusaders, whose previous low for points came in a 51-47 loss to Gilbert Christian (Arizona) on Dec. 3 in their second game of the season.

"I loved our defensive performance," Beeten said. "That kept us going and kept us in that little lead."

Webb scored nine of his team's 11 third-quarter points, and his driving basket that he banked high off the glass on the final possession of the quarter put the Chargers ahead 38-29.

Faith Lutheran got as close as 40-34 on Friel's baby hook in the lane with 6:30 to go, but Woodbury, who had nine points in the fourth quarter, made a key 3-pointer as part of a 13-1 run that extended Clark's lead to 53-35.

Jackson added a late exclamation point with a one-handed, alley-oop jam off an assist from Webb to give the Chargers a 59-42 advantage.

"I think that's this team in general. They're extremely unselfish," Beeten said. "I think that's been the best thing about this group is that they play for each other. As long as they keep doing that, good things will come."

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ