ROUNDUP : Aguilar Helps El Modena Beat Santa Ana Valley
El Modena’s Aaron Aguilar recovered from a scoreless first half to lead the Vanguards to a 50-42 victory over Santa Ana Valley in the Century League opener for both teams Friday night at Santa Ana Valley High School.
Aguilar scored 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to offset the shooting of Santa Ana Valley point guard Anthony Porter and forward Steve Singleton.
“They were aware of him (Aguilar) and were double and triple-teaming him in the first half,” Vanguard Coach Tim Tivenan said. “I told him to take the ball to the basket in the second half instead of pulling up for the short jumper.”
El Modena (10-5, 1-0 in league) led, 36-35, with 6 minutes 52 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But baskets by Aguilar and Tyler Wood and four straight free throws by Mario Perez completed an 11-2 run to give the Vanguards a 47-37 lead with 2:26 remaining.
“We knew it would be tough here,” said Tivenan, whose team is defending league champion. “But we survived.”
Santa Ana Valley (4-9, 0-1) was led by Porter’s game-high 16 points and four assists.
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