OLYMPIC LEAGUE BASKETBALL : Cole Sparks Orange Lutheran, 75-69

It seemed that every time Orange Lutheran High School needed a big play Wednesday night in its Olympic League opener against Santa Margarita, senior forward Daryl Cole made a steal, scored a basket or made a nice pass to set up a teammate.

Cole, a three-year starter, was the difference in Orange Lutheran’s 75-69 victory against a young Santa Margarita team that is playing only its second season of varsity basketball.

The game matched defending champion Orange Lutheran, which was undefeated in league play last year, against Santa Margarita, which doesn’t have a senior on its roster but is bidding for its first postseason berth in the Southern Section’s 2-A division.

Santa Margarita (3-7) fell behind, 12-2, but managed to stay close to Orange Lutheran because of center Jeff Layne and forward Bill Bathey. Layne scored 11 of his 15 points in the first quarter, and Bathey had nine of his 16 points in the second.

But Orange Lutheran (7-5) clinched the victory near the end of the third quarter, when Cole made two consecutive jump shots and then stole a pass and fed teammate Luke Aucoin for an easy layup to give the Lancers a 58-45 lead.

“That type of senior leadership is just what we need the most,” said Rich Schaff, Santa Margarita’s coach. “I think we have a good team, but whenever the game is close, we don’t have anyone who takes control like Cole did tonight.”

The victory was significant for Orange Lutheran after the league’s other two favorites, Whittier Christian and Valley Christian, lost their league openers Tuesday night.

“I think there’s five teams who could win the league, and Santa Margarita is one of them,” said Jerry Simmons, Orange Lutheran’s coach. “I wasn’t sure how we would play after playing all those large schools in the holiday tournaments. I thought we rekindled some of the fire from last year tonight.”

Cole and Kent Dowding each had 22 points for Orange Lutheran, and sophomore point guard Luke Aucoin added 13 points and six assists.