Dons Move Up; Pagett Moving Out

Santa Ana packed a great deal of news into one Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball game Wednesday.

The Dons took over sole possession of first place with a 75-71 victory over Saddleback, got a new all-time leading scorer and lost a head coach.

Coach Dana Pagett confirmed that he is stepping down at the end of the season and the college will make the announcement today. Pagett, in his 25th season as a coach and 16th at Santa Ana, will remain at the college as a teacher but said he is looking forward to spending more time with his family.

Pagett’s hand was forced by sophomore forward Lohnnie Tape, who became the Dons’ all-time leading scorer with a short jumper less than four minutes into the game. Tape passed Edgar Wickliffe (1977-79), who had 1,233. Tape finished with a team-high 23 points and has 1,253 points with three regular-season games left.

Tape said after the game that one of the reasons the team is doing so well is because the players want to make Pagett’s final season a good one.

Santa Ana (16-11, 8-3) moved a game in front of Fullerton, which was upset by Riverside, 94-89, also Wednesday.

Santa Ana was in danger of being upset as well Wednesday, trailing by four midway through the second half. Tape had 16 in the first half but was held down in the second. Guard Jimmy Alapag helped take up the slack, scoring all 14 of his points in the second half.

Alapag hit the key shot of the game--a baseline jumper that put Santa Ana up, 72-66, with 1:22 left--and added two free throws with 20 seconds left.