Orange County Prep Basketball : Santa Ana Continues Streak by Beating Foothill

Santa Ana High School’s remarkable run in the 22nd Orange Holiday Tournament continued on Monday night as the Saints stunned Century League rival Foothill, 54-52, in the Hutton Sports Center.

Forward Jeff Stewart made two free throws with two seconds remaining to give Santa Ana the victory and move the Sanits into tonight’s title game at 8:30 against Mater Dei.

Stewart went to the free-throw line after Foothill was cited for a technical foul when Knight guard Doug Kopcha called a timeout. The Knights didn’t have a timeout remaining, so Stewart was given two free throws.

Only a second earlier, Santa Ana forward Darrell Bailey had tied the score, 52-52, when he made a short bank shot. The Knights missed the front end of three, one-and-one free throw opportunities in the last quarter and were outscored, 17-9.

The game was almost a carbon copy of Santa Ana’s 55-42 victory over Fountain Valley in the second round. The Saints fell behind, 17-7, in the first quarter and then rallied by using a stifling, man-to-man defense.

“Defense won the game for us in the end,” said Greg Coombs, the Santa Ana coach. “Everything I asked the players to do in the last three minutes, they did it. I’m really proud of this team.”

Santa Ana has overcome some big obstacles to reach the title game. Two weeks ago, Coombs dismissed point guard Scootie Lynwood from the team. Last week, he suspended starting center Bobby Joyce from the tournament for disciplinary reasons.

“Those were my two best players,” he said. “I thought we could play with people in this tournament without them, but I never expected to be in the title game.”

In the other semifinal game:

Mater Dei 68, Capistrano Valley 52--LeRon Ellis scored 29 points, had 11 rebounds and blocked 3 shots as the Monarchs advanced to the championship game for the fifth consecutive year.

Mater Dei (9-0) opened a 45-29 lead late in the third quarter when Ellis took a lob pass from guard Chris Patton and scored on a one-handed dunk. He made 13 of 22 shots, including his last six attempts.

In the Brea-Olinda Tournament:

Brea-Olinda 83, Sunny Hills 74--Mike Thorum scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Wildcats.

Whittier Christian 81, El Dorado 69--Erik Martin scored a game-high 21 points to lead Whittier Christian. Chris Facione had 14 points for El Dorado.

In the Canyon Classic Tournament:

Villa Park 59, Esperanza 58--Ross Harvey had 17 points Mike Kent for Esperanza. Mike Tucker had 12 points, Chris Stork 18. Last shot at the buzzer Tom Bray for Villa Park.

Canyon 46, Apple Valley 37--David Jones had 18 points for the Comanchees. Canyon plays Villa Park in today’s final. Paul James had eight rebounds for Canyon (2-4).

In the Coast Classic Tournament:

Cypress 78, Hoover (Glendale) 52--Seniors Matt Civitelli and Frantz Reyes led Cypress (4-6) with 18 points each in the consolation championship semifinals. Joe Valasquez led Hoover (3-7) with 20 points.

Long Beach Jordan 75, Huntington Beach 58--Charles Belvin scored 17 points and Rick Bartholemew scored 14 to lead Jordan. Huntington Beach (4-7) was led by forward Kevin Brazzel who scored a game-high 27 points.

In the Fiesta Bowl Compadres Christmas Classic:

Canyon del Oro 65, Tustin 48--Brent Kachynka had 16 points and Mark Meredith had 15 to lead Canyon del Oro to the championship. Tustin (10-2) was led by Rog Middleton with eight points. Canyon del outrebounded Tustin, 43-29.

El Toro 79, Irvine 58--Eric Speaker, a junior forward, had 26 points and 8 rebounds and Bret Johnson had 21 points and 6 assists for El Toro. The Chargers are 9-3.

In girls’ basketball:

In the Christ the King Tournament (Queens, New York):

Hoffman (New Jersey) 56, Brea-Olinda 54 (OT)--Brea (9-2), which led by 10 points in the third quarter, made 27 turnovers in the game, and that turned out to be the difference. Brea center Susan Tousey scored 30 points. Hoffman is ranked No. 15 nationally.

In the Costa Mesa Tournament, all first-round games:

Canyon 54, Saddleback 33--Kari Erkenbrack had 15 points for the Comanches (5-3). Moncia Walton had 16 points for Saddleback (0-6).

Capistrano Valley 43, Estancia 39--Caylin Combs, scoring from the inside, led the Cougars (7-3) with 26 points.

Ocean View 46, Tustin 38--Dalene Lawson scored 21 points for Ocean View (5-5). Tustin (6-4) was led by Dorene Haver with 10 points.

Schurr (Montebello) 55, El Modena 34--Schurr (8-1) was led by Chris Ballesteros with 16 points and Tiff Kobayashi with 12.

Woodbridge 49, North Torrance 41--Randee Mahoney scored 14 points and had 5 steals to lead the Warriors. Woodbridge had a season-high 55 rebounds, including 28 offensive rebounds.

Palos Verdes 45, Chaffey 43--Heidi Burge scored 17 points to lead Palos Verdes.

Costa Mesa 57, El Dorado 33--Silke Schwarz scored 18 points to lead Costa Mesa (8-3).

In the Marina-Edison Tournament:

Edison 51, Mater Dei 29--Center Kristi Smith scored 15 points to lead the Chargers (12-1). Edison guards Michelle Hennessey and Denise Ogburn each had 10 points and 7 assists.