Crystal Gryphons soar in CCS opener

“Missing it last year broke me, broke the whole team,” Diaz said.

Now, as juniors, Diaz and Kueh are the foundation of a Crystal team playing with a purpose. And that team, seeded No. 10 in the CCS Division V tournament, found the winning chemistry once again to roll to a 62-52 victory over unseeded Oceana, Friday night, at the Gryphon Den.

With the win, Crystal (10-14) advances to face a familiar nemesis. The Gryphons will travel to No. 7 Eastside College Prep in a Saturday night showdown. With both teams in the West Bay Athletic League, the two met twice during the regular season, with Eastside sweeping the series.

“Coming back, getting our first win, it’s a big motivator going into Eastside,” Diaz said. “They did beat us twice in the league games, but as our coach has been telling us, it’s hard to beat a team three times.”

Diaz fronted Crystal’s blitzing pressure defense Friday. The junior recorded a double-double of 10 points and 16 rebounds, but where he really swayed the momentum of the game was with his takeaways. Diaz totaled three steals, all in the first quarter, while Oceana finished with 21 turnovers.

“We like getting out and pressing,” Crystal head coach Jose Perez said. “It’s just it’s been a long season with injuries, vacations, where we haven’t had a full roster until tonight. Tonight’s the first time that we’ve had 15 guys available. So, yeah, we were trying to change the pace of the game from slow, to speed them up a little for some turnovers and create shots for us.”

Based on the takeaways, Crystal jumped out to an 11-3 lead. Oceana (9-16) seemed up for the challenge, though, responding with a 9-2 run to close to within a point. It was as close as the Sharks would get, though, as the Gryphons turned up the defensive intensity even more to go on a 12-0 run spanning into the second quarter.

“Our main focus on our team is to apply pressure to the ball,” Diaz said. “All we have to do is get in transition, and we’re going to get buckets.”

Sophomore guard Remy Tyler sparked the second-quarter surge, driving baseline for a layup before drilling a corner 3. Kueh finished off the run with a smooth baseline layup of his own to double up Oceana at 25-12.

“We were just trying to run our sets to get a wide-open bucket,” Diaz said. “I think one of the first plays, we ran a backdoor ... which was key. Also getting momentum, moving the ball around, moving their defense was definitely one of the reasons why we were able to go on that 10-0 run.”

Then in the second half, the Gryphons seized the momentum again by converting two and-1s within less than a minute of each other — junior Guy Ronen celebrated vigorously after drawing the foul on a transition layup, then punctuated it with the free throw. Junior guard Eugene Leung followed with the same formula to boost the lead to 38-23.

Crystal went on to convert 11 of 13 free throws in the game, including perfect 5 of 5 in the second half.

Oceana was paced by senior Luis Manuel, who scored a game-high 21 points. Manuel admitted Crystal’s pressure defense was a game-changer.

“I was getting face-guarded ... also their press is pretty good,” Manuel said. “We were having trouble, and then that just translates to our offense. And it was tough.”

Oceana junior Dexter Miller had a strong night on the boards. Miller totaled a team-high 15 rebounds, while the Sharks played it close on the glass. Crystal out-rebounded them slightly 36-34. But Miller enjoyed a highlight put-back early in the fourth quarter, and went on to finish with eight points.

While Crystal rotated all its reserve players and built a 60-38 lead by midway through the final period, Oceana finished the game on a 16-2 run. Senior center Princetin Jimenez and sophomore guard Catcher Ashkinos finished with nine points apiece for the Sharks.

It was an emotional scene for Oceana following the season-ending elimination loss.

“It was intense,” Manuel said. “We were excited at the start, but obviously it didn’t go how we wanted.”

Oceana is a program in transition. The small Pacifica public school saw its enrollment dip below 450 students this year, necessitating a drop from Division IV to Division V. As a result, Oceana has applied to realign from the Peninsula Athletic League to the Private School Athletic League. The Sharks are expected to join to PSAL in 2026-27.

“We’ve been approved, it looks like,” Oceana head coach Dan Johnston said. “And it will take place not this year, but the year after.”

“It really just has to do with size,” Johnston said. “We really can’t compete with Sequoia that has 2,000 students. San Mateo has 1,700. I mean, one class of theirs equals our entire school.”

Kueh finished with a team-high 17 points for Crystal. He is one of nine juniors on this year’s squad to have played for Diaz, who used to coach basketball at Crystal Middle School, since sixth grade. Seniors Jonathan Lin and Zayaan Rashid were part of Diaz’s first sixth-grade team.

“[Kueh] has been a huge reason for the success of our team,” Diaz said. “Me and him are building a bond. We’ve been playing varsity basketball since freshman year. So, having that chemistry with him, and the other players on the team, has also been a big asset to our team.”