File photo – Seth Dyer

The Crusaders gave their playoff seeding hopes a boost in boys basketball on Tuesday evening with a 79-53 win over Clear Lake at St. Bernard’s.

The Crusaders are ranked No. 3 in North Coast Section Division 5, according to MaxPreps, while Clear Lake is No. 10.

Seniors Seth Dyer and Aaiden Burris led the way for the Crusaders, who won their 12th straight game and improved to 18-2.

In the absence of influential senior Rowan Cromwell, who was sick, Dyer scored 20 points and added eight rebounds, while Burris finished with 19 points and seven boards.

“Aaiden and Seth were aggressive leaders once again,” coach Pat Shanahan said. “And although we were missing Rowan, the rest of the squad stepped up, especially in the rebound department.”

Liam Dyer added 16 points and five rebounds for SB, while freshman Garrett Shanahan finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Crusaders, however, had to overcome a sluggish start to the game, as the Cardinals came ready to play.

“Credit Clear Lake tonight, they traveled a long way and were ready to take us out of what we like to do,” Pat Shanahan said. “Our first half of ball wasn’t the best of the year, but we responded well in the second half.

“The boys are smart and know basketball and each other. They made the necessary adjustments and played much better basketball in the second half.”

Zaach Bowen added eight points in the win, while Wyatt Simoni finished with eight rebounds and four points.

The Crusaders will resume conference play at Hoopa on Wednesday night, before closing out the regular season at Ferndale on Friday.

“We have two more big league games this week to close out the season,” Pat Shanahan said. “We have to play better every game. And we hope to do that tomorrow.”