Prep Basketball : Orange League : Western Strategy Works for Half, but Savanna Wins, 56-44

Greg Hoffmann, Western High School’s boys’ basketball coach, had one simple strategy before Wednesday night’s Orange League game with league-leading Savanna.

“To win, outhustle them,” Hoffmann said. “It’s that simple.”

Hoffmann was right, but only for the first half. Savanna rallied from a three-point first-half deficit to defeat Western, 56-44, at Savanna.

“When you play Western, you have to play ugly,” said Tom Gregory, Savanna coach. “It’s never an easy game. It’s never a pretty game. You’ve got to withstand their pressure and scrappiness.”

Savanna did that in the third quarter, outscoring Western, 15-4, in the first four minutes for a 39-31 lead. Western answered with two driving layups by forward Chris Bowen, bringing the Pioneers within 39-35 at the end of the third period.

Savanna clinched the game by outscoring Western, 17-9, in the fourth quarter. Rebel point guard Richard Kemple led the drive with nine points, all but two from the foul line.

Western forward Chris Bowen, who scored 17 points in the first half and 21 in the game, was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“I told the kids at halftime, we’ve given 17 (points) to their star player,” Gregory said. “We had to start playing defense.”

Robby Booker scored 17 points and added 11 rebounds to lead Savanna (16-3, 5-0), the eighth-ranked team in Orange County.

The Rebels were helped by Eric Shinkle (12 points, 12 rebounds, 8 blocked shots), Kemple (11 points, 6 assists) and Bob Rivera (11 points).

Joe Romero scored 10 points for Western (11-6, 2-3).

Magnolia 59, Anaheim 57--The Sentinels’ Martin Nester made a three-point basket with 28 seconds to play. Magnolia’s Mike Goff scored 30 points and broke a school record for scoring in three seasons. Goff has 1,181 points, more than the 1,178 by Mark Weise (1981-84).

Anaheim had two chances to either tie or win but missed a layup and a three-point try.

Magnolia is 6-10, 2-3. Anaheim is 1-14, 0-5.

Valencia 59, Brea-Olinda 48--Senior guard Bernie James scored 15 points, junior guard Rudy Lopez scored 14 and junior center Mark Miller 13 for the Tigers at home.

The victory was Valencia’s third in a row in league. The Tigers (9-11, 3-2) led, 32-18, at halftime.

Keith Walker scored 16 points for Brea (10-9, 3-2).