Boys’ basketball: Crespi gives Coach Russell White a memorable victory

Watching the many facial expressions of Crespi Coach Russell White can be entertaining and exhausting. Sometimes you don’t know whether he’s happy or disappointed. He’s always thinking, teaching and plotting.

His Crespi team had an up and down game on Wednesday night in the championship of the San Fernando Valley Invitational. At times, the Celts were in cruise control against a young Village Christian team. But then they had to call upon their experience in the final three minutes to prevail, 69-61, and give White his 207th coaching victory in 10 years at the Encino campus, passing Paul Muff as the winningest coach in Celt history.

“It means I’ve had some good players,” White said. “It means I’ve been lucky to have a job for a long time. Paul Muff is a legendary coach.”

One of the those good players is USC-bound De’Anthony Melton, the tournament MVP who finished with 23 points. Mitch Mykhaylov added 19 points and Brandon Williams 13. Crespi improved to 10-1 with its 10th consecutive victory.

Isaac Etter led Village Christian (8-2) with 25 points. Coach Jon Shaw was challenging his team in the huddle, asking if they were going to seek autographs from Crespi players afterward. He wanted them to stop playing intimidated. They finally responded and closed to within four points with 3:17 left before Crespi’s experience took over.

In the third-place game, Trinity Classical defeated Saugus, 55-54, on a three-pointer by Mike Mateo in the closing seconds. St. John Bosco improved to 9-1 with a 70-59 win over Crescenta Valley. JJ Watson scored 27 points.

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