Santa Ana Tops Riverside, Ties for Conference Lead

Mark Wulfemeyer, the Santa Ana sophomore guard coming off his worst performance of the season, scored a season-high 29 points to help Santa Ana to a 97-76 victory over visiting Riverside Wednesday.

The victory moved Santa Ana (22-6, 8-3) into a first-place tie with Riverside (21-9, 8-3) with three games left.

Wulfemeyer made his first three shots, all three-pointers, and finished the first half with 15 points.

But the first shot was the most important one for him since he made none of eight attempts in a two-point loss to Saddleback Friday.

Wulfemeyer said part of the problem at Saddleback was he accidentally took some sinus medicine that made him drowsy.

“My equilibrium was off a little bit,” Wulfemeyer said, “but I got it out of my system and the guys rallied behind me.”

It was the second time Santa Ana has beaten Riverside this season, giving the Dons the tiebreaker advantage.

Freshman forward Zac Fray added 22 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots for the Dons, which outrebounded Riverside, 46-29.

Sophomore forward Greg Gray had 18 points and sophomore guard Brian Chambers had five points but turned in a strong defensive effort.

Chambers, who is 5 foot 10, guarded 6-4 Brian Collins who is averaging 22 points.

Collins finished with 22 but missed 13 shots as Chambers frustrated him by always slapping at the ball.