THE PREPS : Boys’ Player of the Week : A Memorable Week of Basketball Helps Joyce Put Distractions Aside

Santa Ana High School’s Bobby Joyce has put two unpleasant experiences of the past month in perspective.

In November, Joyce made an oral commitment to play basketball at Fresno State, then changed his mind hours later. He has put plans for college on hold until after the season.

“I have never lived away from my home and my friends before,” Joyce said. “It scared me. I knew I wasn’t ready to sign.”

Then in December, there was the Southern Conference semifinal football game, in which El Toro’s Adam Brass stole the winning touchdown pass from him with no time left.

“It was the most surprised I’ve ever been,” Joyce said. “It doesn’t bother me anymore, unless some idiot says to me, ‘I heard you messed up the football game.’ ”

Basketball season has eased Joyce’s mind.

“I just don’t worry about what I have already done,” he said. “All I think about is the season ahead of me.”

Joyce, The Times’ player of the week, has been able to transfer those thoughts into actions. Last week in the Irvine World News tournament, he averaged 25.4 points per game in leading the Saints to the championship.

In the final, Joyce had a one-on-one showdown with Woodbridge’s Adam Keefe, who has committed to Stanford. Joyce had 27 points, 21 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in a 64-51 victory. Keefe had 24 points and 13 rebounds.

“I wanted Woodbridge to make it to the final so it would be Adam and me on the court--face-to-face,” Joyce said. “We’ve been friends for a long time. We played against each other on traveling teams and we played together last summer in the Slam’n Jam League. But this was the first time we played against each other on the varsity level.”

But not the first time they’ve squared off in high school. As freshmen, Joyce and Keefe met in the final of the University Tournament, with Santa Ana winning, 91-47.

Joyce made a point of reminding his teammates of that game before last week’s championship game. In fact, he hosted a pregame meal for the sole purpose of making it clear.

“The guys were a little nervous about playing the defending state champion at the Bren Center,” Joyce said. “I showed them the championship plaque (from the freshmen tournament). It says: Santa Ana 91, Woodbridge 47.”

Joyce had just one thing to add:

“Don’t be scared.”

Joyce was selected team captain by his teammates and his leadership has pleased Coach Greg Coombs.

“Bobby is showing a lot more maturity this year,” Coombs said. “I guess that comes with being a senior. I know he and the rest of the seniors are more focused on their goals.”

Even before practice began, Joyce began working to bring the players together as a team. He wrote out a list of what it would take for the Saints to be more successful and showed it to Coombs, who agreed.

“The last two years, we always seemed to be arguing with each other,” Joyce said. “We’ve come together more as a team this year. We even vote on what music to listen to, instead of arguing about it. We support each other and pick a guy up when he’s down.”

And the unpleasantness is now reserved for opposing teams.

Bobby Joyce

Santa Ana High School

Position: center.

Height, Weight, Class: 6-7, 210, Sr.

Last Week: Joyce scored 127 points in 5 games of the Irvine World News tournament. He also averaged 22 rebounds per game in the last 3 games, as the Saints won the championship.

Season: Joyce is averaging 19.7 points per game.