THE PREPS : Orange League Basketball : Brea-Olinda Surprises Valencia

Brea Olinda High School’s boys basketball team defeated Valencia Friday, 62-52, and created a three-way tie for second place in the Orange League.

Western defeated league champion Savanna, 76-63, to join Brea and Valencia in second with 6-4 league records.

Brea will be the second-place team in the 3-A playoffs. Valencia and Western will play for the third spot tonight at Savanna at 7:30.

Brea, 13-11 and 6-4 in league play, shut down Valencia almost completely in the first quarter, holding the Tigers to three points in the quarter. Valencia (10-11, 6-4) made its first score six minutes into the first on Tom Aehlert’s jumper from the free throw line.

That made the score 6-2. Valencia was playing tough defense, too.

“I think the defense was the key,” said Rick Jones, Brea Coach. “They didn’t get the ball inside and we eventually broke their press.”

The Wildcats had 24 turnovers, which kept them from ever gaining control of the game.

“Give credit to their defense,” said Ray Rodriguez, Valencia coach.

Brea scored four baskets after offensive rebounds to crawl out to a 13-3 first-quarter lead.

Senior center Matt Chamberlin grabbed 16 rebounds and scored 23 points for Brea to lead both teams in those categories. He also made 11 of 13 free throws, including four in the last two minutes to secure the victory.

Chamberlin’s playing status was questionable up to game time because of a sore knee, but he showed no ill-effects from the injury when he came off the bench early in the first quarter.

“I felt confident getting the ball,” Chamberlin said.

Junior Dave Dittman added 11 points for the Wildcats.

Valencia looked as if it would make the game close when it scored 24 points in the second quarter. Valencia outscored Brea, 16-5, in the last five minutes of the first half to bring the score to 31-27 at the half.

The score may have been in Valencia’s favor if the Wildcats had converted the eight free throws they missed in the second quarter. Valencia was one of eight from the line in the first quarter.

The Tigers also had problems shooting the ball because Brea’s extended zone put pressure on Valencia’s wings.

In other Orange League games:

Western 76, Savanna 63--Center Chris Bowen scored 27 points to lead host Western to the upset of Savanna, which is the seventh-ranked team in the Orange County Sportswriter’ poll. Savanna led, 19-9, at the end of the first quarter, but Western rallied behind Bowen, who scored 11 of his team’s 25 in the second quarter. Western trailed, 38-34, at the half. Bowen scored 8 of his team’s 27 points in the fourth quarter. Forward Joey Romero had 19 points and 9 rebounds and Sam Sabarra had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists for Western.

Savanna is 21-4, 9-1. Western is 15-7, 6-4.

Magnolia 64, Anaheim 51--Mike Goff led all scorers with 32 points and teammate Jason Nester added 15 points for host Magnolia (7-14, 3-7). Marcus Mitchell scored 26 points for Anaheim (1-19, 1-10).