ORANGE LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Seniors Spark Brea’s Title-Clinching Victory Over Savanna

Brea-Olinda High School got exactly what it needed Friday night to clinch a co-championship in the Orange League.

It got leadership.

Rodney Stewart and Keith Walker, seniors playing their last regular-season home game, gave the Wildcats enough veteran spark to coast to a 67-54 victory over Savanna, earning Brea a tie with Western for the league title.

Walker scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Stewart, Brea’s point guard, had six points, 10 assists and 10 steals to help his team finish the regular season 21-5 overall and 9-1 in league.

Savanna finished the season 16-10 and 6-4, good enough for third place in league.

“Keith took control of the game offensively in the second half,” Brea Coach Rick Jones said. “He wanted to win this game, and it showed.”

Walker’s soft jumper with 6 minutes 32 seconds left started a seven-point Brea run after Savanna had pulled to within 49-45 on a three-pointer by John Endow.

Despite Walker’s offense, it was Brea’s quickness on defense that was a key factor in the game. The Wildcats built a 32-17 halftime lead off Savanna turnovers, eight of them forced by Stewart.

“When Rodney comes to the game with his mind set to play defense, he can come up with some really great plays,” Jones said. “We were concerned about stopping (Savanna guard Ben) Smith. He’s liable to hit six or seven shots in a row on you.”

Brea’s scrappy 2-1-2 zone defense held Smith to six points, and only one basket after the first quarter.

The Wildcat zone also resulted in 23 Savanna turnovers.

Endow led Savanna with 15 points, including three three-pointers in the second half. Savanna forward Keith Rodriguez added 14 points and Andy Trumpour scored 11, including three three-pointers.

Brea center Fritz Wickman had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Western 69, Magnolia 38--Tom Barraza scored 20 points at Magnolia as Western (18-5, 9-1) earned a tie with Brea for first place. Sam Sabbara scored 11 points for Western. Phouphet Singbadith scored 11 points for Magnolia (1-21, 1-9).

Valencia 46, Anaheim 44--Richard Tibbie scored 10 of his 20 points on free throws in the last four minutes for Valencia as Anaheim took to fouling to stop the clock in an effort to catch up. It nearly worked, but the Tigers (9-16, 3-7) were able to hang on. Anaheim was led by Danny Castro’s 18 points.