Buena Park Gets a Shot at Unexplored Territory

Buena Park will try to make some school history tonight when it hosts highly regarded Brea Olinda at 7:30 in a second-round Division II-AA boys’ basketball playoff game.

According to Coach Ed Matillo, the Coyotes have never advanced past the second playoff round.

“I think this is only the third time we have won 20 games,” Matillo said.

Buena Park, which finished tied for second in the Freeway League, is 20-7. Brea, which won the Orange League title, is 25-2.

Matillo admitted that Buena Park’s cozy gym, which he says can hold 1,200 spectators, isn’t accustomed to handling big games.

“It should be pretty packed,” he said. “It will be good for the kids to have a home game. There’s a lot of excitement here right now.”

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Two giant-killers meet tonight when Trabuco Hills (12-14) plays at Moreno Valley Rancho Verde (24-4) at 7:30 p.m. in a Division II-AA boys’ basketball second-round playoff game.

Trabuco Hills has made a habit out of stunning Century League opponents in the playoffs. The most recent example was Friday’s 56-54 overtime Division II-AA victory at league champion Canyon. Two years ago the Mustangs knocked off Villa Park in the opening round.

Rancho Verde, which finished third in the Sun Belt League, ousted host El Monte, the Mission Valley champion, 69-34, in the first round.

After a disappointing season, Friday’s victory was meaningful, Trabuco Hills players and coaches said.

Center Evan Fields, who scored 26 points and had 13 rebounds, said the team just hasn’t played like it was united in purpose all season.

“We were not really into it,” Fields said.

Among other things, the loss of guard Brandon Martin with a broken hand hurt the team during the final eight league games. Martin, his hand heavily bandaged, returned against Canyon but had difficulty gripping the ball. He missed all five field-goal attempts but managed eight rebounds.

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Jennifer Branam of El Dorado High, Lauren Orlandos of El Toro and Allyson Marquand of University were named to the Parade Magazine All-American girls’ soccer team.

Branam, who also was selected to the 1998 team, was named the magazine’s top goalkeeper. Orlandos and Marquand were among nine defenders honored.

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Brea Olinda’s Scott Lieng, who plays football, wrestling and track and field, and Mater Dei’s Rachel Svoboda, who plays soccer, are finalists for the CIF Sportsmanship/Citizenship award.

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The Century League had a terrific performance at last weekend’s section Division I individual wrestling championships, producing 22 of the 42 county wrestlers who qualified for Friday’s Masters competition at Fountain Valley.

But the Olympic League produced the most champions--five. Brethren Christian had three of them; Anthony Rodriguez (103), Mike Simpson (112) and Steve Garcia (130). And Garcia had a superb meet, getting three pins and one decision in four matches to earn MVP honors in the lower weight division.

Garcia, who won the 119-pound division title last year, said he and the other Warriors won’t take anything for granted this weekend. “We know we have to keep stepping up. Masters is tougher because all the division champions wrestle. Last year I went into the Masters with a big head, lost my first round match, and barely made it to state. I won’t make that mistake again.”

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Defensive-minded Mater Dei is in position to make a serious run at the Division I-A girls’ basketball title. If Mater Dei gets past Alhambra Keppel on Wednesday, the Monarchs could face third-seeded Edison, a team Mater Dei defeated, 56-46, this season.

“We have good athletes and we can play defense,” Mater Dei Coach Ollie Martin said. “We can win this thing. There are 12 teams that can beat each other.”

The one team Mater Dei (20-5) can’t beat is top-seeded Riverside North (25-2). Mater Dei has lost three times to North, each defeat progressively worse. North is one of only four teams that has scored as many as 50 against Mater Dei, and North did that only once. San Clemente scored 50 against Mater Dei three times. The Monarchs’ defense surrendered 50 or more only seven times this season, and are 4-3 in those games.

“If we can win our close games,” Martin said, “we’re looking to get to the finals in a big arena, like the Pyramid, where it become a defensive struggle.”

Even in gyms where shooting is less a problem, teams struggle against Kristian Kirkpatrick, Lindsay Pavlik and Maile Shimoda, who had big performances in Mater Dei’s 57-50 first-round win over Torrance North. The Saxons had been averaging 55 points per game, and reached 50 only because they scored 15 points in the final 2:03.

“We feel if we score 50,” Martin said, “we’ll almost always win.”

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The site of Wednesday’s girls’ basketball game between Glendora St. Lucy’s and Santa Margarita, originally scheduled for Glendora, has been changed to Chino Hills Ayala.

The best of the local games Wednesday is San Clemente (20-8) at Troy (27-0).

Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan called his team’s domination of the Tritons in a 56-39 victory on Dec. 10 “a fluke.” San Clemente, which reached the Division I-A finals last year and have all-county players Colleen Turnbull and Debby Caine returning, was originally ranked No. 2 in Orange County. Instead, the Tritons finished seventh. Troy finished the season ranked third.

Another matchup worth is second-seeded El Toro (20-4) at Esperanza (18-9) in Division I-AA.

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Ryan Allen of Capistrano Valley Christian High has been granted an appointment to the Air Force Academy, where he plans to play football next fall.

An All-Southern Section Division XIII receiver, he had 1,037 rushing yards, 701 receiving yards and scored 23 touchdowns.

Times staff writers Martin Henderson, Steve Kresal, Mike Terry and Peter Yoon contributed to this report.