Santa Ana, Foothill Renew Hard-Fought Rivalry Tonight

It’s almost a given that anytime Santa Ana and Foothill high schools play basketball, one can expect a close and exciting game.

The teams have played some memorable games for the Century League championship, with Santa Ana winning the title in 4 of the past 5 seasons.

But this season, the teams have played it close. Santa Ana defeated Foothill, 43-37, in overtime in the Irvine World News tournament, and Foothill rebounding with a 49-47, double-overtime victory to open league play.

Foothill and Santa Ana play for a third time at 5:15 tonight in Chapman College’s Hutton Sports Center in the opening game of a tripleheader. In other games, El Modena plays Canyon at 6:45 and Santa Ana Valley plays Villa Park at 8:15.

“We don’t really match up particularly well with Santa Ana, but for some reason, we always seem to play very intense, very close games,” said Jim Reames, Foothill’s coach.

Santa Ana (16-5 overall, 4-1 in league play) features the perimeter shooting of guard Mike Zamora and forward Chauncy Woolridge. Zamora is averaging 15.3 points and is shooting 53% from 3-point range. Woolridge averages 14.2 points per game.

Foothill (11-9, 3-2) counters with forward Mark Wilkinson. Wilkinson is averaging 16.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

“Mark has made the most dramatic improvement I’ve seen in 20 years of coaching,” Reames said. “He went to the BCI (Basketball Congress International) tournament in Phoenix last summer and decided he could do whatever the top players were doing with some work.

“He came home, worked his tail off and now I would rank him among the top players in the county, and he’s only a junior.”

A most interesting matchup pits center Jamal Duff, 6 feet 7 inches and 220 pounds, against Santa Ana’s 6-3, 225-pound Oscar Wilson. Both will be listed among the top college football prospects in the nation next season. Duff plays tight end and linebacker; Wilson is a defensive lineman.

“Now that’s a battle of wide bodies,” said Greg Coombs, Santa Ana’s coach.

Coombs said Santa Ana is “a much better perimeter shooting team than we’ve been in the past, so I don’t think Foothill can afford to play a zone and pack it in against us inside like they have in the past.”