Prep Basketball : Southern Section 4-A Playoffs : Experience Factor the Key as Estancia Topples Santa Ana

In the playoffs, it seems as if experience is just as valuable for high school basketball teams as talent.

Friday night’s Southern Section 4-A game between Estancia High School and Santa Ana provides a good example. The Eagles and Saints both have excellent talent, but Estancia starts five seniors, while Santa Ana starts two seniors, a junior and two sophomores.

For three of the Saints, this was their first postseason appearance.

And it showed.

Several stretches of sloppy play and 16 turnovers hurt Santa Ana, while Estancia controlled the game’s tempo, capitalized on the Saints’ abundance of fouls, and kept its mistakes to a minimum.

The result was predictable. Estancia beat Santa Ana, 75-52, in front of an estimated 1,500 fans in the Saints’ gym.

The Eagles (25-3) advance to Tuesday’s second round, where they will face Capistrano Valley, a winner over Redlands Friday night. The Saints close the season at 17-9.

Both Estancia Coach Joe Reid and Santa Ana Coach Greg Coombs agreed that the Eagles’ experience was a major factor.

But that’s not to say Estancia lacks any talent. Eagle guard Adam Lockwood, who scored a game-high 23 points, was easily the best player on the floor Friday night.

He took command of the game in the third quarter, when Estancia turned a seven-point halftime advantage into a 55-37 lead by the end of the period.

Lockwood’s jumper closed an 8-0 Estancia streak with 4:48 left to give the Eagles a 44-31 lead. Estancia then went into its four-corner offense, which is designed to run the clock and free players for layups.

Lockwood, stationed at the top of the key, beat his man (Santa Ana guard Rich Tellez) four-straight times to lead the Eagles’ 9-2 surge.

First, he passed to forward Richie Stamps, who converted an open layup, and then he passed to forward Todd Mooney for another easy basket from inside.

The next two trips, Lockwood kept the ball himself. One resulted in a three-point play, and the other in two foul shots. Mooney closed the quarter with a follow shot, and Estancia had a huge (55-37) lead.

The Eagles, who were in the bonus situation for all of the second and fourth periods, made 19-of-29 free throws. They also committed just seven turnovers, while turning many of the Saints’ mistakes into fast-break baskets.

“They (Santa Ana) threw the ball away more than I thought they would,” Lockwood said. “We converted a lot of their turnovers into points, and that helped us a lot. It wouldn’t have mattered if we didn’t capitalize.”

The Eagles had too many weapons for the Saints. When Lockwood wasn’t scoring, center Scott Clements (16 points), Mooney (13 points), Stamps (8) and guard Eric Van Doren (8) were. That was more than enough to offset Santa Ana’s Roger Flores (18 points), Eric Turner (16) and Jeff Stewart (10).

“Maybe in a few years, we’ll be where Estancia is,” Coombs said. “They’re so experienced, they do the right things, and they know where to go. That’s about it.

“A lot of people thought this would be a 30-point blowout by halftime, but we stuck with them for almost three quarters.”

Santa Ana stuck with its man-to-man defense all game, but the Saints, despite their height advantage, didn’t match up with the Eagles.

Tellez, who is 5-8, is five-inches shorter than Lockwood, who also is an excellent leaper and an All-Southern Section volleyball player.

Sophomore Darrell Bailey covered Clements, while Flores, the Saints’ 6-5 center, started on Van Doren, who rarely penetrates past the free-throw line on offense.

Flores sagged off on Van Doren, in an attempt to help his teammates inside, but Van Doren responded with three jumpers in the first half. That forced Flores, Santa Ana’s best rebounder, to come outside on defense, leaving the inside open for Clements and Mooney.

“Putting Roger on Van Doren was a gamble we had to take,” Coombs said.