El Dorado Looking to Pull Rank

Sure, a share of first place in the Empire League was at stake Friday night, but the importance of host El Dorado’s impressive 74-59 victory over Loara was more far-reaching.

The two Division I-A teams came in tied for 10th in the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Assn. rankings, which, despite grumbles from county coaches, will go a long way toward deciding playoff pairings eight days from now.

And there’s the little matter of being overlooked in the Orange County sportswriters’ rankings. The Golden Hawks have flirted with the top 10 from time to time and this week they finally climbed into the No. 10 slot.

Now, after Woodbridge’s upset of No. 9 Newport Harbor on Friday, El Dorado (21-3, 7-1) could climb a notch or two. The Golden Hawks appear to be peaking at the right time.

“I hope we will move up in the polls now,” said Evan Bull, a 6-foot-6 junior center who made his first five shots and finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. “Loara beat us last time (73-59) and I’m just glad we were able to get them this time.”

“The only thing that has been holding us back has been that loss,” said reserve center David Patten, who had eight rebounds. “Now we should move up.”

Junior Quinn Hawking, a 6-4 guard, led all scorers with 25 points. He made six of nine three-point shots for El Dorado, which never trailed en route to tying Loara (16-8, 7-1) for first place.

If Loara and El Dorado, each with two games left in the regular season, finish tied for first place, it would be El Dorado’s first piece of a league title since 1989 and only its eighth since 1972. And Loara would get a piece of its third consecutive crown.

Loara Coach Ed Prange isn’t celebrating just yet, though. The Saxons hadn’t had a winning season in more than 20 years until three years ago, and he isn’t too pleased with his team’s overall record this season. Like El Dorado, Loara has seen only a brief stint in the county top 10.

“Polls are something we can’t control,” Prange said. “We have to worry about next week and what we can control. We need to regroup and get better.”

In other Empire League games:

Katella 60, Cypress 47--Phillip Tyson scored 20 points for the visiting Knights (10-13, 4-4). Matt Reid had 14 for Cypress (13-10, 2-6).

Century 55, Kennedy 48--Ruben Pineda had 22 points and Chris Ferretti added 13 points and 13 rebounds for the host Centurions (10-14, 2-6). Chris Johnson scored 27 points for Kennedy (9-14, 2-6).