Boys’ Prep Basketball Roundup : Valencia Comes Back Strong on Defense in Second Half to Upset Katella

Valencia High School opened the second half with a half-court trap defense and outscored Katella, 18-10, in the third period on its way to a 55-52 upset over the Knights in the semifinals of the Valencia Tournament.

Valencia (2-0) trailed, 28-22, at halftime but entered the final quarter with a 40-38 lead and held on for the victory. The win earned the Tigers a berth in Friday night’s championship game opposite the winner of tonight’s Mater Dei-Esperanza semifinal.

Kevin Jones, Valencia’s 6-foot 4-inch forward, led the Tigers with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, while 6-4 center Dennis Burbank added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Bob Erbst, Katella’s 6-9 forward, led the Knights with 14 points, while Rich Lucas and Steve Stierstorfer each added 10 points.

KATELLA (52)--Sunu 2, Harker 2, Stierstorfer 10, Anderson 6, Erbst 14, Lucas 10, Petrakis 6, Baldwin 2.

VALENCIA (55)--Nakawaki 4, Jones 20, Burbank 16, LaRue 6, Robinson 9.

In other Valencia Tournament action:

Rancho Alamitos 73, La Habra 55--The Vaqueros (1-1) showed a great deal of versatility in this second-round consolation game. They overcame the Highlanders’ defensive concentration on Roger Carter. Carter managed 13 points and 9 rebounds from his guard/forward position, and meanwhile, two juniors playing in their first varsity tournament sprung into the limelight. Point guard Randy Morales scored 28 points and Craig Paquette had 21. Center Lee Velasquez pulled down 13 rebounds and added 7 points. The Vaqueros play Lynwood at 4:45 p.m. Friday.

LA HABRA (55)--Emrick 12, Newman 15, Sciacca 7, Dixon 8, Grutbo 5, Reese 4, Bergamo 5.

RANCHO ALAMITOS (73)--Carter 13, Morales 28, Velasquez 7, Paquette 21, Flores 2, Rambayan 2.

In nonleague play:

Buena Park 39, Magnolia 35--The Coyotes came back to win after trailing, 20-13, at the half. The Sentinels’ undoing was poor shooting as they managed to make only 14 of 53 attempts. Magnolia’s Mike Goff had 12 points, and Sentinel guard Saul Osuna had four steals in the first half.

BUENA PARK (39)--Glahn 3, Kotsin 1, Smith 12, Toscano 11, Robbins 12.

MAGNOLIA (35)--Osuna 2, Banuelos 6, Goff 12, Gorrien 2, Lyons 5, Czech 2, Tran 4, Wittman 2.

Servite 59, Savanna 45--Friar forward Tony Smalley scored a game-high 18 points and recorded eight rebounds as Servite earned a victory in its season opener. The Servite guards also played well as Shawn Sullivan had 5 steals and Bob Coady had 10 assists.

SAVANNA (45)--Campbell 16, Cope 5, Ceale 6, Koh 5, Kemple 4, Smith 9.

SERVITE (59)--Smalley 18, Rollins 8, Arabia 2, Sullivan 10, Coady 8, Kenney 4, Marusich 9.

Muir 57, Huntington Beach 50--Kurt Wagner scored 17 points and Staci Augman added 12 points to lead the Mustangs to the win over the Oilers at Muir High in Pasadena. Darren Snow led Huntington Beach with 17 points, Shane Pariseau had 13 and Shawn Jensen had 10. The Oilers drop to 0-2.

HUNTINGTON BEACH (50)--Snow 17, Pariseau 13, Jensen 10, Bettis 6, Kao 2, Vitz 2.

MUIR (57)--Wagner 17, Augman 12, Brown 8, Owens 6, Womak 6, McCullough 4, Cooper 2, McIntosh 2.

In the Gahr/Cerritos Tournament:

Mayfair 67, Kennedy 64--The Irish trailed, 34-20, at halftime, but came back within two points of Mayfair before succumbing. Kennedy’s Darrin Queen had a good shooting performance, going 10 of 18 from the field and 5 for 6 from the free throw line, for a total of 25 points. Teammate Glenn Mares added 12 points. Mayfair’s Mark Beck was the top scorer with 28 points. The Irish were outrebounded, 20-8, in first half. Kennedy plays at 4:30 p.m. today against John Glenn at Cerritos High.

KENNEDY (64)--Keith 4, Queen 25, Mares 12, Curry 12, Hansell 6, Bernard 4, Kosek 2.

MAYFAIR (67)--Partin 19, Disbrow 1, Hess 5, Beck 28, Davis 8, Cunningham 6.

In the Laguna Beach tournament:

Troy 58, Fallbrook 56--The Warriors (1-1) held off Fallbrook (0-2) as forward Rob Burrer led all scorers with 17 points and teammate Mark Rudometkin had 16. Troy faces Santiago in the consolation semifinals today at 2:30 p.m.

TROY (58)--Rudometkin 16, Burrer 17, Ferren 8, Shirley 6, Picciotta 5, Frenette 2, Greer 4. FALLBROOK (56)--Hansen 8, Weems 12, Work 12, Witkop 6, Dixon 9, Tucker 9.

Santiago 50, Trabuco Hills 40--The Cavalier front line put together a well-rounded scoring attack as forward Ben Soto scored 14 points, and forward Pete Avila and center Rick Burns added 13 points each. The Mustangs’ top scorer was guard Scott Kriech with nine points. Santiago evened its record at 1-1, while Trabuco dropped to 0-2.

SANTIAGO (50)--Avila 13, Soto 14, Burns 13, Dinh 9.

TRABUCO HILLS (40)--Welch 7, Gilbert 5, Kriech 9, Perez 4, Colburn 2, Jones 5, McNeill 8.

Los Alamitos 81, Chadwick 72--The Griffins beat Chadwick to advance to the consolation semifinals today at 4:15 p.m. against Warren. Griffin forward Mark Schmitz had 18 points and 10 rebounds, whil guard J.T. Snow had 20 points, 5 steals and 8 assists. The big scorer was Chadwick forward James Johnson with 43.

LOS ALAMITOS (81)--Snow 20, Schmitz 18, Treece 7, Warner 10, Loe 7, Blossey 17, Anderson 2.

CHADWICK (72)--Kinkle 4, Johnson 43, Jackson 7, Woods 11, Clark 3, Kaufman 4.

Warren 45, Dana Hills 38--The Dolphins’ Jeff Duby was the game’s top scorer with 17 points while Warren’s Mehash Ananth had 13. Warren plays Los Alamitos at 4:15 p.m. today in the consolation semifinals.

DANA HILLS (38)--Esteban 4, Crawfords 3, Loyd 6, Lyon 8, Duby 17.

WARREN (45)--Dominguez 13, Fendry 8, Hawthorne 4, Manalo 4, Ananth 13, Pattillo 3.

In the Garden Grove Torunament:

Garden Grove 50, Laguna Hills 45--The Argonauts (3-0) earned their way to the championship game as point guard Octavio Contreras had 14 points and 7 assists and foward Mark Kiefer had 12 points and 12 rebounds. For the Hawks, Sean Hardy and Joe Moravck had 11 points. Garden Grove will face the winner of today’s El Dorado-Fullerton game in Friday’s championship.

LAGUNA HILLS (45)--Colburn 6, Nelson 4, Hardy 11, Kawada 2, Sheff 4, Moravck 11, Buckley 2, Stickney 5.

GARDEN GROVE (50)--Contreras 14, Finch 7, Lorenz 2, Kanagae 11, Kiefer 12, Fournier 4.

In the Orange Lutheran tournament:

Montclair Prep 72, Southern California Christian 59--Todd Bowser, the Mounties’ 6-8, 270-pound center, scored a game-high 26 points to lead Montclair Prep to a win over the Flames in first-round action at Orange Lutheran High School in Anaheim. Only four players scored for SCC, including Darin Loman (21 points), Jeff Bickmore (18) and Bill Watson (16).

SCC (59)--Darin Loman 21, Lambie 4, Bill Watson 16, Jeff Bickmore 18.

MONTCLAIR PREP (72)--Quick 9, Scharf 5, Honig 2, Brian Moss 14, Hawser 8, Light 5, Fanger 3, Todd Bowser 26.

Bretheran 97, El Modena JV 58--Ron Porter scored 14 points and Zaughn Tatum added 13 to help the Warriors defeat the Vanguards. Bretheran will meet Montclair Prep in the second round Friday night.