Tape in Comfort Zone as Santa Ana Wins Big

Santa Ana forward Lohnnie Tape doesn’t need much room to work, but thanks to a three-point barrage he had plenty in the Dons’ 91-74 victory over Los Angeles Trade Tech in the second round of the Southern California men’s basketball playoffs Wednesday at Santa Ana.

Trade Tech started playing zone defense but was forced to switch to man-to-man defense in the second half after Santa Ana made eight of 15 three-pointers in the opening half to lead by 21.

Trade Tech’s switch shutdown the outside but the Beavers couldn’t defend against Tape, the Orange Empire Conference’s most valuable player. He finished with a career-high 36 points.

“He is our all-time leading scorer after all,” Santa Ana Coach Dana Pagett said, “He’s done an excellent job for us all season. We expect that.”

What Pagett didn’t expect was the degree to which Tape, who was 13 of 17 shooting, took over the offense. In a seven-minute span early in the second half, Tape scored 18 of his team’s 20 points, including 16 in a row.

It was the 11th consecutive victory for eighth-seeded Santa Ana (21-12), which advances to the regional final at No. 1 Bakersfield at 7 p.m. Saturday. The winner moves to the state tournament March 12-14 at UC Irvine.

Tape capped the first half with a three-pointer in the last second that put the Dons ahead, 48-27. But it was the play of freshman Chris Mattice and sophomore Mark Saukkola that got Santa Ana going.

Mattice (20 points) made four of five three-point attempts in the first half and Saukkola (11 points) was three of nine.