Estancia boys’ basketball wins at Santa Ana in Orange Coast League opener
Estancia High senior center Jake Covey said he still remembers his hook shot that hung on the rim at Santa Ana last year.
The ball spun off at the fourth-quarter buzzer, and the Eagles suffered a one-point loss to the Saints in Orange Coast League boys’ basketball play. That ended up being the difference between second and third place in the league, as Santa Ana finished 7-3 and Estancia was 6-4.
The Eagles returned to the Saints’ gym on Wednesday night for a league opener. This time it was no one shot that made the difference, just a dominant first-half defensive effort from Estancia.
Senior guard Marvin Harry led a varied attack with 12 points, and the Eagles beat the Saints 46-32, continuing a strong start to the season.
Junior point guard Larry Andres had 11 points for Estancia (16-3), and Covey chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Eagles took charge early and stormed out to a 22-6 halftime lead. That advantage was cut to nine points twice in the second half, but Santa Ana (8-9) couldn’t get closer.
“They play really, really hard,” Estancia coach Xavier Castellano said. “I mean, they got us here last year by one [point] and it hurt, so our guys were looking forward to this game. But they play great defense. We played good defense as well, but it’s going to be tough when we play them again at our place. They’re a good team and they’re very well-coached.”
Castellano downplayed any thought that Estancia, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division 5AA poll, could be a favorite in the Orange Coast League this season. Estancia has never won a title in the league since joining it in 2006-07. The Eagles’ last league title came in the Golden West League, in 2004-05.
“We’re not thinking about that,” he said. “We’re just trying to get top three. Everyone knows each other, and there’s a bunch of good coaches in our league. We’re just trying to do the best we can ... Right now we’re 1-0 and we’ve got a tough [home] game against Saddleback on Friday.”
Estancia, which has already surpassed last season’s win total of 15, has been racking up the wins despite being not close to full strength. Senior shooting guard Brandon Pearson went out with a right ankle injury early in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game; Castellano said he’s hopeful that it’s just sprained.
Castellano said that the Eagles are also currently down junior starting point guard Ben Sparks (leg) and senior role player Cameron Khoury (toe).
Still, the Eagles had plenty of players who chipped in. Senior forward Arthur Bishop had seven points, including two three-pointers, and six rebounds.
Junior center Sebastian Olvera led Santa Ana with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
“We did really good [defensively] up until halfway through the third quarter, when it started to break down a little bit,” Covey said. “[Olvera] was one of our big concerns, because he was such a good finisher around the basket. We wanted to try to deny him as much as possible.”
Covey knows one thing that can’t be denied — the Eagles appear to be for real this season.
“It seems like every time we win, someone is saying, ‘Oh, it’s nothing, it’s nothing,’” he said. “We’ve done it 16 times now, and once in league. It’s definitely going to be tough. It’s going to be no cakewalk like Laguna [Beach] had in the past, but I think we have a shot this year.”
Orange Coast League
Estancia 46, Santa Ana 32
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Estancia 14 – 8 – 9 – 15 — 46
Santa Ana 4 – 2 – 13 – 13 — 32
E – Harry 12, Andres 11, Covey 10, Bishop 7, Pearson 2, Debrum 2, Graham 2.
3-pt. goals – Bishop 2, Harry 1, Andres 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
SA – Olvera 12, Cruz 9, Perez 7, Silva 2, Valdovinos 2.
3-pt. goals – Cruz 1, Perez 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
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