BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Dannis Helps Woodbridge Win Title

Jared Dannis said he had to think back to eighth grade to remember a game like the one he had Saturday.

Dannis, 6 feet 6 but overshadowed like so many others by teammate Chris Burgess, stepped off the bench and out of the shadows to lift second-ranked Woodbridge to an 83-61 victory over third-ranked Santa Ana Valley in the championship of the Irvine News World Classic at Concordia.

Dannis had a team-high 20 points, but scored 10 in the second quarter--including eight of 10 in one span to make it 28-14--as Woodbridge stretched its two-point lead. Dannis had 14 points at halftime and Woodbridge had a 44-29 advantage. He finished 10 of 12 from the field.

“It feels real good to know I can step up when we need it,” Dannis said, “and in the game that matters most I played the best that I could.”

Santa Ana Valley (5-4) played without Olujimi Mann--he twisted his ankle Friday--and closed the gap to seven points, 53-46, with 3:07 left in the third. That’s when the Burgess, 6-10, asserted himself. He scored the last 10 points of the third quarter and the lead was back up to 17. Burgess (four rebounds) had 14 of his 18 points in the final 15 minutes and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

The Warriors (9-2) snapped Santa Ana Valley’s two-year hold on the tournament title. They also got 17 points from Brandon Beeson, who had 11 in the second quarter, and 14 from William Stovall (seven rebounds).

“We had a lot of kids step up this tournament,” Woodbridge Coach John Halagan said. “It’s nice to see some of our other kids get some recognition.”

Ike Harmon had a game-high 30 points and 13 rebounds, and David Williams had 11 points.