Irvine Thrives at Line, Stops Saints

A big part of Irvine High School’s drive to the Southern Section 5-A championship game last year was its free-throw shooting.

Irvine would patiently work the ball for high-percentage shots and often was fouled in the process. Irvine was deadly at the free-throw line, making 71% of its shots as a team.

“I never had a team shoot free throws so well,” Irvine Coach Steve Keith said. “But this year has been even better. We’re shooting well over 80%.”

Irvine made 20 of 22 attempts Thursday night in a 60-43 nonleague victory over Santa Ana that proved two things: Patience and pressure defense often bring victory.

Santa Ana (4-5) had trouble getting good shots against Irvine’s defense, making only 16 of 52 shots. The Saints had only one player, Chauncey Woolridge, reach double figures in scoring.

“We’ve been consistently inconsistent,” first-year Coach Nash Rivera said. “Chauncey was the only one who scored, and he can’t be shooting three-pointers all the time and be a threat. It’s going to take some time for the players to adjust to my style.”

Irvine (6-5) has been relying on the scoring of junior forward John Molle for most of the season, but the Vaqueros displayed a more balanced attack against Santa Ana. Molle has scored 40, 39 and 34 points in earlier games, but he finished with only 18 points Thursday.

Greg Baines scored 18 points and teammate Brian Boothroyd added 10 points to take some of the pressure off Molle.

“It was nice to see so many others contribute tonight,” Keith said. “We got Santa Ana to play our style, and we can be pretty effective when we dictate the tempo.”

Irvine opened an 18-8 lead in the first quarter and extended the margin to 14 points by halftime. The Vaqueros were 15 of 16 at the line in the first half.

Santa Ana managed to stay close when reserve Marc Contreras scored nine points in the second quarter, but for most of the game, the Saints appeared confused and frustrated.

Woolridge, an all-league player as a sophomore, didn’t start and quickly went to the bench twice when Rivera didn’t agree with his shot selection. Oscar Wilson, a three-year starter, had nine points and four rebounds, but rarely was a factor.

Santa Ana hardly looked like a team that won 19 games last season and had some key starters returning.