Santa Ana Bound for State Tournament

Sophomore guard Atari Parker heard from her coach that the intensity level of the state tournament is something really special.

Parker, wanting to make sure she and her Santa Ana teammates didn’t miss the experience, scored 31 points as the Dons beat visiting Riverside, 87-61, Saturday in a Southern California regional final.

Santa Ana joins Ventura, Cerritos and Canyons as the Southern California representatives at the state tournament starting Thursday at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton.

“I’m excited about going,” Parker said. “Coach got us pumped about going by telling us all about it.”

Single has first-hand knowledge since he coached Saddleback to the title game in 1996.

He then moved on to Santa Ana, which had struggled before his arrival. The Dons reached a regional final for the first time in the history of the program last season.

Parker, who was selected as the Orange Empire Conference’s most valuable player, had 20 points in the first half as Santa Ana opened a 41-20 lead. She also finished the game with 11 rebounds and seven steals.

Sophomore forward Stephanie Patten had another solid game. She made all of her 10 free throws and finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. She and Parker and sophomore guard Lisa Arcangel (10 points) were all taken out in the closing seconds to loud applause.

Single couldn’t remove any more starters because he had no other players on the bench.

“I’m so proud of these girls,” Single said. “All year we heard that you can’t do it with six of seven or eight players but we are going.”