ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Bobby Joyce Makes Successful Return : Center Scores 29 Points to Lead Santa Ana Past Brea, 65-64

Bobby Joyce, Santa Ana High School’s troubled center, celebrated his return to the lineup Wednesday night with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in a 65-64 nonleague victory over Brea-Olinda at Santa Ana.

Joyce made 13 of 16 shot attempts and scoring the Saints’ final four points in what was otherwise an very evenly matched game.

Joyce returned from a four-game suspension imposed by Coach Greg Coombs following some disciplinary problems in the Irvine World News Tournament. Joyce did not play in the Orange Holiday Tournament, in which Santa Ana finished second behind the county’s top-ranked team, Mater Dei.

But while Joyce returned to the lineup, starting forward Jeff Stewart sat out Wednesday night’s game for unexcused absences from classes earlier this week. Stewart was the Saints’ leading scorer in the Orange Holiday Tournament.

“I think Bobby learned a big lesson,” Coombs said. “He tired pretty quickly in the first quarter, and then he got his second wind. It’s going to take a couple of games to get his wind back.”

Joyce appeared sluggish in the first quarter when the Saints fell behind, 16-10, but was virtually unstoppable in the second quarter. He scored 13 points in 8 minutes, including a 15-foot jump shot at the buzzer to give Santa Ana a 35-33 lead.

Brea (9-6) led through most of the first half. The Wildcats made 14 of 24 shots in the half, and most of those were from the 15- to 20-foot range. Center Bob Terry scored 12 of his 22 points in the first half.

“We had guys right in their faces, and they still shot real well,” Coombs said. “Those were all perimeter shots too.”

Santa Ana (10-5) maintained its lead in the second half, falling behind only once when Wildcat guard Mike Thorum scored on a breakaway layup following a steal for a 58-57 lead with 4:44 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Joyce took control in the final two minutes. He made two free throws to give Santa Ana a 63-60 lead and then stole a pass and scored on a dunk to extend the lead to 65-60.

The Wildcats made a run as guard Dexter Murmur hit a jump shot and Terry added another outside shot to cut Santa Ana’s lead to 65-64 with 33 seconds remaining. Joyce missed a free throw with four seconds remaining, but Brea’s final threat ended when Saint guard Darrell Bailey deflected a pass out of bounds near Santa Ana’s basket at the buzzer.