State Basketball: Jason Crowe Jr. Leads Lynwood to Division V Title

With NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce sitting behind the bench smiling through his trendy sunglasses, the group of talented freshmen from Lynwood High, led by Jason Crowe Jr., from 14 years old, he put on an NBA-like show at the Sacramento house. Kings on Friday afternoon to win the Division V boys’ basketball state championship 89-58 over Tollhouse Sierra.

It could be the start of something big as Lynwood started with four freshmen.

“We set a goal before they leave to be in the Open Division,” Lynwood coach Jason Crowe Sr. said afterward.

His son, averaging 34 points, scored 36 in the win. Crowe Jr. made a 3-pointer from well past the top of the key in the third quarter that would have had LaMelo Ball cheering. Another freshman, Chace Holley, scored 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting.

Crowe Sr. called his son “the best player in the state” and admitted that he might be sounding “a bit of a LaVar Ball-ist.”

“We keep hoping he doesn’t have a big game,” he said. “He does not do it. It’s been amazing to watch.”

Crowe Jr. committed his third foul in the second quarter and his father didn’t remove it to avoid a possible fourth foul in the first half. He went out briefly but came back soon and didn’t commit another foul.

“He knew he would make it,” Crowe Jr. said. “He knew he couldn’t make another foul. He and I have a bond, we can trust each other.”

Crowe’s 36 points ties the Division V state record and trails only Glendora’s Tracy Murray (64 points), Cloverdale’s Craig McMillan (37) and Santa Margarita’s Klay Thompson (37) for the most in a title game. Crowe finished the season with 1,293 points, the third-best in state history.

Logan Kilbert scored 19 points for Sierra, a small school of 315 that received police escort from local police. It was Lynwood’s first men’s state title.