CENTURY LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Aguilera Scores 22 as El Modena Beats Santa Ana Valley

Aaron Aguilera, who prefers to let his play speak for itself, was down right loud Friday night.

For four quarters, he did as he pleased, lifting El Modena to a 58-52 victory over Santa Ana Valley and into sole possession of first place in the Century League. Then, he climbed back into his shell.

Found catching his breath in the locker room afterward, Aguilera was asked about his performance.

“Uh ( sniff ) . . . uh ( snort ) . . . talk to him,” Aguilera said, pointing at guard Mario Perez, who merely shrugged.

While Aguilera had trouble putting his play into words, others were not so bashful.

“We couldn’t stop him,” Santa Ana Valley Coach Rich Prospero said. “He’s an animal.”

The Falcons found out the hard way.

Aguilera, a 6-foot-3 junior center, controlled the inside against Santa Ana Valley, finishing with 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. He carried the Vanguard offense, making his first seven shots and finishing with 22 points.

And he did it all with a scowl that made him intimidating just to look at.

“I’ve never coached a player who works as hard as Aaron,” Coach Tim Tivenan said. “He has such a knack for getting the basketball. I’ve never seen such desire.”

Fortunately for El Modena, which needed every bit of his effort.

The Vanguards (14-6, 5-1 in league play) were coming off a 45-43 loss to Foothill, which dropped them into a tie for first place with Santa Ana Valley (8-10, 4-2). The problems El Modena had in that loss continued Friday--poor outside shooting and even poorer free-throw shooting.

Perez and Jon Leedom were the only Vanguards to make a shot from beyond 15 feet. Each made one. And, on the foul line, El Modena was a pitiful 16 of 37.

“We’re just not a good outside shooting team,” Tivenan said. “And the free throws, I don’t know. Last Wednesday in practice, we weren’t going to let the kids leave until we had made nine of 12 free throws. It took us 40 minutes.”

So, El Modena turned inside to Aguilera.

He scored six points in an 8-1 run that gave the Vanguards a 30-22 lead midway through the second quarter.

The Falcons, who had won four consecutive games, trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half but got within six points with six minutes left in the game. But again, there was Aguilera. He hit a 15-foot jumper, blocked a shot and made two free throws to give the Vanguards a comfortable lead.

“It was just another impressive game for Aaron,” Tivenan said.

And one worth talking about.

In other Century league games:

Villa Park 60, Orange 55--Villa Park (10-9, 4-2) made 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to earn the victory at Orange. Ryan McArthur led the Spartans with 20 points and Steve Lebrecht added 14. Pat Harris scored 23 points for Orange (8-11, 0-6).