COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Miner Is Ill, but Saddleback Looks Sick

The fact that Katie Miner was feeling ill Wednesday certainly came as a surprise to anyone who watched her first-half performance.

Miner scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the opening half and Golden West went on to a 75-47 victory over Saddleback in an Orange Empire Conference women’s basketball game.

Miner, playing despite the flu, led the Rustlers to a 35-20 halftime lead. Saddleback got no closer than 10 in the second half.

The victory moves Golden West into prime position for its seventh consecutive conference title.

The Rustlers (23-5, 8-0) have a three-game lead over second-place Saddleback (14-8, 5-3) and Cypress with four games left.

Golden West plays at Cypress at 7 p.m. Friday.

“That was a big win for us,” Golden West Coach Dick Stricklin said. “That puts a little bit of a margin between us and them.”

Saddleback attempted to use its trademark press in the early going, but Golden West was able to get the ball up court and opened a 12-2 lead. Saddleback went on a 7-0 run, but Golden West pulled away again.

Miner’s layup with 10 minutes nine seconds left in the first half put Golden West ahead, 20-9. Miner, who was open often under the basket, scored 12 of her team’s first 20 points.

Her final points of the half came when she banked in a three-pointer from about 23 feet with one second left.

“That was a prayer that went in,” Miner said. “I’m feeling a lot better now. In the first half, I was getting the chills, had a fever, and I was dizzy.”

Miner played sparingly in the second half.

Farrah Magee had 14 points and Deana Itow had 11 points and seven assists for Golden West.

“I hope (Miner) doesn’t give it to the rest of the team,” Stricklin said.

In another women’s game:

Cypress 76, Rancho Santiago 52--Francine Lopez and Stephanie Werdel each had 21 points for visiting Cypress (19-9, 5-3). Lopez had scored only 35 points all season before Wednesday. Her career-high was nine. She was playing in place of Sara Works, who hurt her knee in Cypress’ last game.

Tanja Tilli had 13 for Rancho Santiago (8-14, 0-8).

In Orange Empire Conference men’s games:

Saddleback 75, Golden West 57--Micah Kroeger, a freshman guard from Edison High, scored 22 points as host Saddleback (21-4, 8-1) remained in a first-place tie with Riverside. Anthony Carter scored 15 for Saddleback.

Michael Dean had 14 and Dejuan Matthews 13 for Golden West (8-17, 2-7).

Riverside 96, Fullerton 89--The teams were tied, 63-63, with about 10 minutes left but host Riverside (24-3, 8-1) went on a 13-0 run. Fullerton later go within four, 78-74, only to have the Tigers pull away again.

Ronald Kenan had 26 points for Riverside and Jason Cunningham scored 32 and Marcus Austin had 20 and eight rebounds for Fullerton (11-15, 2-7).

Rancho Santiago 90, Cypress 75--Aaron Aguilera made eight of eight shots from the field and finished with 20 points for visiting Rancho Santiago (19-6, 7-2), which is in second place. He had failed to score in Rancho Santiago’s 78-72 victory over Saddleback Jan. 27.

Marlon Watson and Michael Oliver each had 17 points for Rancho Santiago, which started the game on a 9-0 run.

Jason Krauss had a season-high 18 points for Cypress (14-14, 1-8).

Irvine Valley 84, Orange Coast 77--Keon Clark had 26 points and a season-high 26 rebounds for visiting Irvine Valley (18-9, 6-3). Rashad Wilson and Brian Linsenmayer each had 17 points for the Lasers, which led, 43-34, at the half. Damion Morbley had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Orange Coast (10-15, 2-7).