Orange Lutheran Upsets Horizon

Orange Lutheran upset top-seeded San Diego Horizon, 63-61, in the first round of the Southern California Regional boys’ basketball tournament Tuesday night at Horizon.

Orange Lutheran (25-5), which gave up an average of four to six inches per position, packed its defense in the key and countered the Panthers’ above-the-rim offense with a patient passing game and some clutch three-point shooting.

Orange Lutheran led, 63-56, on Mike Bristol’s layup with 38 seconds left, but the Lancers suddenly went cold from the free-throw line and left Horizon an opening.

After Horizon pulled to within five points with 26 seconds left, Jason Whieldon missed the front end of a one-and-one situation. Robert Ortiz then went to the free-throw line for the Panthers and made the first and missed the second. But John Browner put back the rebound, cutting the lead to 63-61.

Whieldon went back to the line and missed two free throws with 12 seconds remaining. Horizon got the rebound and headed upcourt, but Whieldon met Jarrha Bolden at midcourt and forced a jump ball, giving possession to Orange Lutheran with eight seconds left.

The Panthers (21-7) sent Whieldon back to the line two seconds later and he missed his seventh and eighth consecutive free throws, but the Lancers kept the rebound alive and Horizon was not able to get off a shot.

Poor free-throw shooting cost Horizon even more. The Panthers made only two of 11 and did not have anybody capable of scoring from the perimeter.

Horizon made only one of five three-pointers and converted only one other jump shot from outside the key.

On the other end of the court, Orange Lutheran made eight of 20 three-point attempts, including several in clutch situations.

Whieldon scored 16 points to lead the Lancers, Patrick Salyer had 14 points and eight blocks and Mike Bristol scored 10.

Fred Hooks scored 18 points to lead Horizon.

In other games:

DIVISION II

Compton Dominguez 81, Escondido Orange Glen 47--Tyson Chandler scored 17 points and had five rebounds and five blocks in three quarters of action against a team with no player over 6-feet-5.

Isaiah Orange scored 22 points for visiting Orange Glen.

San Diego Serra 66, Brea Olinda 51--Six-foot-eight senior James Profit scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and his younger brother Julius scored 15 of his 17 points after halftime to highlight the surge for Serra (26-4), which advanced to play top-seeded Compton Dominguez.

Serra’s full-court press and half-court trapping defense frustrated visiting Brea Olinda (26-10) throughout the game, helping force 20 Wildcat turnovers.

Lakewood Artesia 86, Bakersfield East 50--Jack Martinez scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds and Amaury Fernandez had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Pioneers (30-2) at home.

DIVISION III

Torrance Bishop Montgomery 63, San Diego St. Augustine 40--Bishop Montgomery’s pressure defense helped the top-seeded Knights take a 32-15 halftime lead en route to an easy victory at Bishop Montgomery.

Errick Craven scored 22 points, Brian Pruitt had 12 and Derrick Craven scored 10 points for Bishop Montgomery (25-5).

Corona del Mar 49, University of San Diego 46--Kevin Hansen made an 18-foot baseline jumper with 51 seconds left to give Corona del Mar a three-point lead and University was unable to convert on its final attempts.

Hansen scored 15 points, Alex Hanson had 13 and Joel Templeton added 12 points and 10 rebounds for visiting Corona del Mar (23-7).

DIVISION IV

Playa del Rey St. Bernard 76, Corcoran 66--Brandon Williams scored 21 points and Brandon Nunnely had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Vikings (24-7) to victory at Corcoran.

Corcoran led, 30-24, with about four minutes left in the first half. But St. Bernard went on a 20-4 run in the last four minutes of the second quarter.

Santa Monica Crossroads 73, Lindsay 50--Jordan Rush scored 10 of his 23 points in the first quarter to lead Crossroads (23-9) at home.

Felipe Williams added 13 and Isaiah Fox had 10 points for the Roadrunners.

DIVISION V

Price 70, Reedley Immanuel 39--Chris Alexander and Jermaine Jamerson each scored 15 points and Mychal Lynch added 14 for the top-seeded Knights (30-1) in the victory at Inglewood.

Downey Calvary Chapel 68, Layton 58--Tim Drisdom scored 21 points and Jonathan James had 20 to lead the Grizzlies to victory at Layton.

La Jolla Country Day 71, Huntington Beach Heritage Christian 56--Chris Robinson scored 38 points to lead La Jolla Country Day at home.