Prep Basketball : Santiago Tournament : Buena Park Wins Close One, 56-51

Buena Park High School continues to play it close, which is just fine with Coyote Coach Ken Bell. The Coyotes made five free throws in the final 53 seconds to earn a 56-51 win over Santiago Thursday night in the first round of the 19th Santiago Holiday Tournament at Garden Grove.

The victory was the fourth straight for Buena Park and improved its record to 6-4. It was also Buena Park’s second win in two nights by five points or fewer. Santiago dropped to 3-5 with the loss.

Guard Aurelio Solis gave Buena Park its first lead since the second quarter when he made two free throws with 2:20 left for a 51-49 advantage. Reserve Joel Masinsin added two more free throws with 53 seconds remaining for a four-point lead and then Reggie Brown clinched the win with nine seconds to go with two more shots from the free throw line.

The Coyotes made 7 of 8 free throw attempts in the final quarter to overcome a 41-37 deficit at the end of three periods. Solis paced the Coyotes with 20 points while Darryl Curry had 21 points for the Cavaliers.

“We’ve been playing a lot of close games lately which is good practice for league,” Bell said. “The Freeway League is very balanced, and I think there’s going to be a lot of close games.

“We’ve gotten into a habit of not starting well, but when it gets down to the time to win or lose, the kids pull it out. When they get down, they don’t think they’ll lose.”

Buena Park opens league play against favored Fullerton in the Indians’ gymnasium and Bell is hoping the close wins and clutch free throw shooting throughout nonleague play will prepare his team for the opener.

Solis was the Coyotes’ offense with 15 points in the first half as the teams were tied, 30-30. But he cooled off in the third quarter, Santiago outscored the Coyotes by four points and the prospects of a Buena Park win didn’t appear good going into the last quarter.

That is, until the Coyotes made the key free throws in the final minute of play.

The second round of the tournament continues tonight with favorite Kennedy (8-2) meeting Valencia (6-4) at 7 p.m. and Burbank (6-3) facing Buena Park (6-4) at 8:30 in semifinal action.

In other first-round play:

Burbank 70, Magnolia 43--Orlando Cepeda was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1967 for the St. Louis Cardinals, but his son, Orlando Jr., made his mark on the basketball court against the Sentnels. Cepeda scored 18 points and had 7 rebounds as Burbank improved its record to 6-3.

Cepeda made five consecutive shots during one stretch from the second to third quarters and left the game with six minutes remaining and his team comfortably ahead. Cepeda made 7 of 9 field goal attempts and all four free throw shots.

The Bulldogs took a 33-19 lead at halftime when guard Gary Lutka connected on a 28-foot bank shot at the buzzer. Robert Ryan paced Magnolia with 12 points.