ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Orange League : Walker Takes Charge : His Inside Play Helps Brea Rip Valencia

Brea-Olinda High School dominated Valencia, 71-35, at Brea-Olinda Wednesday in what was supposed to be a matchup of the Orange League’s best.

The Wildcats stayed with their game plan, which calls for getting the ball to senior center Kevin Walker as much as possible, and kept the Tigers out of theirs. Walker led all scorers with 27 points and also had 10 rebounds before coming out with more than four minutes left.

Valencia was only able to contain the taller Wildcats through one quarter. Brea-Olinda pulled away to a 12-point lead at half time.

The Wildcats (1-0, 13-4) were effective on offense and aided by Valencia’s poor shooting.

The Tigers shot only 28% in the first half and failed to score in the last three minutes of the second quarter. Brea-Olinda went on a run during that stretch to turn a 20-18 lead into a 30-18 advantage at the half.

The run was sparked by Walker and senior guard Vincent Francis. Francis had two steals: One he followed with a layup, after the other, he passed back to Walker for a slam dunk. Francis finished with 8 points before going to the bench with over four minutes left.

“They took us out of our range,” Valencia Coach Ray Rodriguez said. “They forced us too far outside and we just didn’t get the job done.”

The Tigers (0-1, 8-6) had 22 turnovers to compound their troubles.

“I’m really surprised at the score,” Brea-Olinda Coach Gene Loyd said. “I thought it would be one-point game. We came out and were a little tense in the first quarter, but once we got going I though we performed really well.”

The Wildcats came out in the third quarter and continued the pattern they had established at the end of the half, outscoring the Tigers by 15 points to lead, 53-26, at the end of the third period.

The only Tiger to reach double-figures was senior guard Mark Hood who had 10.

In other Orange League action:

Savanna 43, Western 41--The Rebels’ Mike Campbell stole the ball with 6 seconds to play to preserve the win at Savanna. Mike Campbell led Savanna with 13 points. Western’s Troy Joseph led all scorers with 20 points. Savanna is 1-0 and 3-8; Western is 0-1 and 5-8.

Anaheim 42, Magnolia 41--Senior forward Tony Robuffo (18 points) made both ends of a one-and-one with 13 seconds left to give the Colonists a one-point win over the Sentinels at Magnolia. Anaheim (1-0, 9-5) has already surpassed last season’s win total of four. Sentinel Mark Lyons was the leading scorer with for either team with 19 points. Magnolia had a chance to tie the game but missed a last-second free throw.