ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Orange Tournament : Without Joyce, Santa Ana Struggles to Beat Fullerton

Santa Ana High School found it difficult playing without star center Bobby Joyce, but the Saints managed to gain a 53-44 victory over Fullerton Friday night in the opening round of the 22nd Orange Holiday Tournament in Chapman College’s Hutton Sports Center.

Joyce, who averaged 19.8 points in four games last week, has been suspended from the tournament by Coach Greg Coombs for misconduct in the Irvine World News Tournament.

In Joyce’s absence, it appears that Santa Ana will rely on its tough man-to-man defense.

“One of our goals in every game is to hold a team under 50 points, and we certainly played good defense tonight,” Coombs said. “No doubt, each game will be a struggle in this tournament without Bobby.

“But the other players played hard, and this was a big win considering the controversy the team has gone through lately.”

In the past two weeks, Coombs has dismissed his best guard, Scootie Lynwood, from the team and then suspended Joyce, one of the premier underclassmen in Southern California. The moves would spell disaster for most teams, but the Saints showed against Fullerton that they still have some talent left.

Forward Willie Lane, a 200-pound junior, led all scorers with 16 points and had 9 rebounds. Lane scored half his points in the third quarter when Santa Ana took control.

The Saints opened a 33-22 lead with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter after center George Tuioti made a three-point play. Fullerton managed to cut the lead to four points at 40-36 in the fourth quarter, but Santa Ana responded with six unanswered points to take a 10-point lead.

Fullerton, which had won four of its last five, made only 21 of 53 shots from the floor. Guards Mike Hetland and Greg Wilber both played erratically.

“We’re a young team with three underclassmen starting,” Indian Coach Randy Forgette said. “We’ve been up and down all season.”

Junior Alan Lewis was the Indians’ most consistent player against Santa Ana, scoring 12 points and getting 11 rebounds. The 6-8 center is averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“I coached him at Snow Valley last summer, and he’s really improved,” Coombs said. “Fullerton is a good team, and this was a good win for us.”

Santa Ana, which made only 13 of 22 free throws, improved its record to 7-4.

In other first-round games:

Dominguez 77, Orange Lutheran 40--The Dons opened a 37-14 lead in the first half and coasted to their 10th consecutive victory. Ronnie Coleman, the most valuable player in the Tournament of Champions last week, led all scorers with 25 points.

Mater Dei 71, Dana Hills 36--Center LeRon Ellis was in early foul trouble but still scored 19 points, had 7 rebounds and blocked 3 shots as the Monarchs won their 17th consecutive game spanning five seasons in the tournament. Forward Char Ruppel added 10 points and 8 rebounds, all coming in the second half. Mater Dei (7-0) had not played in 13 days.

Westminster 60, Newport Harbor 44--Chris Tower, a 6-9 junior, and Tom Dever each scored 15 points for the Lions. Jim Geerlings had 16 for Newport Harbor.

Fountain Valley 63, Santa Clara 56--The Barons outscored sixth-seeded Santa Clara, 19-13, in the third quarter to gain the upset. Jim Borgquist paced the Barons, 5-4, with 16 points. Santa Clara made only 12 of 26 free throw attempts in losing its third straight. It was the 298th career victory for Fountain Valley Coach Dave Brown.

Lakewood 48, El Modena 46--Alan Wilson made an 18-foot jump shot with four seconds remaining to give the Lancers the victory. El Modena guard Adam Coghill had tied the score at 46-46 by making a free throw with 1:18 remaining.

Capistrano Valley 77, Saddleback 54--Guard Scott McCullough scored 31 points as the Cougars improved their record to 6-4. McCullough made 11 of 19 field goal attempts and 9 of 10 free throws. The Cougars opened a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and were never threatened. Gylan Dottin paced Saddleback with 24 points.

Foothill 67, Orange 48--Center Greg Rieber scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds as the Knights snapped a two-game losing streak. Foothill (6-4) opened a 21-8 lead in the first quarter by making 10 of 20 shots.