Century League : Bailey’s Defense Does It : Santa Ana Wins Title by Defeating Foothill

Darrell Bailey, Santa Ana High School forward, doesn’t have too many offensive responsibilities for the Saints. His game is defense.

Each night, the 6-foot junior is assigned to cover the opponents’ best offensive player. In the Century League, that means Bailey draws the likes of Orange’s high-scoring forward Dave Roth, Canyon’s Ralph Garcia, El Modena’s Ryan Rycraw and Villa Park’s Greg Burton.

He was at it again Friday night when Santa Ana faced Foothill and explosive guard Derek Johnson, who was averaging 18 points a game, with the Century League championship at stake.

You won’t see Bailey’s name in the box score, but Johnson saw him every time he went up for a shot. Bailey harassed the Knight guard to such an extent he could make only 4 of 18 shots from the field and score only 8 points, as Santa Ana defeated Foothill, 54-47, before an overflow crowd of 1,500 in the Saints’ gym.

The win gave the Saints their second league championship in three years.

Santa Ana received excellent offensive performances from sophomore point guard Scooti Lynwood, who scored 13 points and had 7 assists; junior forward Jeff Stewart, who scored 16 points; senior forward Eric Turner, who scored 14 points and had 8 rebounds; and sophomore center Bobby Joyce, who added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

But Bailey, who did not score, can take just as much credit for the victory as anyone else.

“He did a great job on Derek,” Jim Reames, Foothill coach, said. “He always had a hand in his face and he made it difficult for Derek to get the ball. Their defense did a good job.”

Foothill had been shooting 54% from the field but made only 18 of 44 shots (41%) Friday night. Santa Ana made 24 of 44 attempts for 55%.

The game was close until the end of the third period, when Turner made two jumpers and Lynwood added a length-of-the-court, driving layup with five seconds left to give the Saints a 44-34 lead heading into the final quarter.

Santa Ana maintained at least an eight-point lead for the fourth period until Mike Grahovac, who scored a game-high 17 points, scored at the buzzer.

Lynwood was extremely effective on offense, scoring twice on jump shots from the free-throw line and driving the lane for four layups.

“His penetration killed us in the second half,” Reames said. “He passed off for a few easy shots and made some layups himself, but we had to work our butts off to get a decent shot from 20 feet out.”

The win avenged Santa Ana’s two-point loss to Foothill three weeks ago--a game the Knights won when Dave Rasmussen made a 50-foot shot at the buzzer.

Tustin 88, El Modena 70--Junior forward Rog Middleton scored a school-record 45 points as the Tillers beat the Vanguards in Tustin. Middleton made 18 of 22 from the field, 9 of 10 from line and had 15 rebounds. Middleton scored 18 points in fourth quarter before being taken out with 2 1/2 minutes to go. Still, he had scored six more points than the previous Tiller single-game record of 39. Jason Hamlin led the El Modena with 29 points.

Orange 60, Canyon 59--Senior forward Dave Roth made a layup with 11 seconds left and the Panthers survived a last second attempt by the Comanches to win at Canyon. Guard Mark Holman added 13 points for the Panthers.

Villa Park 57, Santa Ana Valley 46--The Spartans, led by Greg Burton’s 29 points, closed the season with their first league victory. Alonzo Jamison led Santa Ana Valley with 20 points.