ORANGE LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Savanna Still Has a Chance to Finish First
Greg Haskell, boys’ basketball coach at Savanna High, made sure his team’s supporters knew where the Rebels stood in the Orange League race after Wednesday night’s game against front-runner Brea-Olinda.
“We got a chance, we got a chance,” Haskell told those gathered around the Savanna bench after the game at Brea-Olinda.
The Rebels (15-8, 6-3 in league) kept alive their hopes for a league title with a 45-26 victory over Brea (12-12, 7-2), which now holds a one-game lead over Savanna and Western with one game remaining.
Savanna concludes its league season at home Friday against Magnolia, Brea plays host to Valencia and Western travels to Anaheim. Victories by Savanna and Western, coupled with a Brea defeat would give the three teams a share of the championship.
“If Valencia helps us, we’ll put up a banner and if it doesn’t, I’ll sleep anyway, because I know my kids played hard all year,” Haskell said.
Against the Wildcats, Savanna controlled the tempo with a deliberate offense against Brea’s zone defense, which kept the score low in the first half. The Rebels outscored Brea, 11-7, in the first quarter and 7-1 in the second quarter.
And though Brea switched to a man-to-man defense midway through the second quarter, giving the Rebels more inside opportunities, neither team managed much scoring in the third quarter. Both shot poorly and played evenly, 6-6.
But the fourth quarter belonged to Savanna, and particularly Tobie Priest. The senior guard scored 17 of his game-high 29 points in the quarter, including the last 13 scored by the Rebels.
“I told him I knew he had a big (game) in him,” Haskell said. “Thank God it came tonight.”
Many of Priest’s points came on breakaway layups when the Wildcats repeatedly failed to get back on defense after missing shots.
Savanna shot 51.5% on the night, a marked contrast to Brea, which made only 10 of 37 field goals for 27%.
Guard Jermaine Moore added eight points for Savanna and senior forward Marlon Watson had a game-high eight rebounds. Forward Drew Hubbard led Brea in scoring with seven points.
In other league games:
Valencia 77, Anaheim 44--Marc O’Brien had 16 points and Adolfo Gomez had 14 points and 10 rebounds for visiting Valencia (12-9, 5-4). Boun Malapha had 18 points for Anaheim (4-19, 1-8).
Western 43, Magnolia 39--Frank Floyd scored 12 of his 15 points and made seven of seven free throws in the fourth quarter as the Pioneers (15-7, 6-3) outscored the Sentinels (8-13, 2-7), 15-3, in the final eight minutes.