THE PREPS : Santa Ana Basketball Tournament : Lakewood Gets Past Santa Ana to Win Title

Lakewood High School squeezed past Santa Ana, 55-48, Friday to win the Santa Ana boys’ basketball tournament before 1,000 at Santa Ana High School.

The Saints (3-1) started two freshman and two juniors. Lakewood is 4-0.

“Give Santa Ana credit, they played awfully well,” said Lakewood Coach Tim Sweeney. “I wasn’t particularly happy with our team’s play, but tonight we got a good test against a very fine team.”

The lead changed hands several times in the first half, but Lakewood’s Joey Sweeney hit a 3-point jumper just as the half ended to give the Lancers a 33-32 lead and the momentum.

Lakewood opened up a 7-point lead several times in the third quarter, but Santa Ana fought back. Mike Zamora sank a free-throw with just over 3 minutes to play in the game to cut the lead 52-48, but the Saints could not overtake a taller Lancer team in the final minutes.

Brian Camper led all scores with 23 points for Lakewood. Zamora and teammate Chauncy Woolridge led Santa Ana with 10 points, and Oscar Wilson added 9 with 7 rebounds.

“We played hard tonight,” Santa Ana Coach Greg Coombs said. “This type of game is a good experience for our team. We also have to continue to improve if we are to win another league title.”

In other Santa Ana tournament games:

Sunny Hills 77, Orange 64--Marcus Hopkins scored 23 points to lead Sunny Hills in the third-place game. Jon Beuerlein added 16 for Sunny Hills, which lead, 22-14, at the end of the first quarter. Rick Afalava scored 18 for Orange.

Tustin 86, Los Amigos 65--Dylan Steiler scored 24 points and Cheavly Ly 16 for Tustin in the consolation championship game. Carlos Palomino scored 31 for Los Amigos.