Santa Ana Holds On as Parker Scores 28
Santa Ana, ranked third in the state, dodged foul trouble and a late surge from second-ranked Orange Coast to win, 72-69, in an Orange Empire Conference women’s basketball game Wednesday at OCC.
The Pirates, whose 18-game winning streak came to an end, were down by 21 in the first half but rallied to get within five early in the second half. Santa Ana responded and took a 65-50 lead with 8 minutes 24 seconds left.
Orange Coast (20-2, 4-1 in conference) went on another strong run and pulled to within 70-69 when Leah Wilde made a three-pointer with a minute left.
Each team then turned the ball over and Santa Ana went up, 72-69, when Atari Parker made two free throws with 16 seconds left.
OCC turned the ball over again but got it back when Parker was called for traveling while catching an inbound pass with eight seconds left.
After a timeout, OCC’s Erin Tomlinson broke open for a three-point attempt that bounced off the rim.
Parker, a sophomore guard, finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds despite playing the last two minutes with four fouls.
Sophomore forward Stephanie Patten added 15 points for Santa Ana (18-2, 5-0).
“We played as well as we can for a while,” Santa Ana Coach Jack Single said. “It was a good game.”
Sarah Middlebrooke scored 16 and had 14 rebounds and Wilde added 14 points for OCC.
“I knew we’d come back,” OCC Coach Mike Thornton said, “We have too much pride to get buried.”
In other women’s games:
Golden West 82, Fullerton 77--Tracy Twellman had 20 points and nine rebounds for third-place Golden West (16-4, 3-2).
Irvine Valley 69, Cypress 48--Jennifer O’Keefe made nine of 15 shots and scored 20 points for host Irvine Valley (14-7, 3-2).
Riverside 55, Saddleback 48--Erin Edmiston had 22 points and seven rebounds for Saddleback (4-17, 0-5).
In men’s games:
Riverside 91, Saddleback 73--Brian Collins, playing for the first time in a week because of a broken jaw, scored 14 of his 18 in the second half for visiting Riverside (17-7, 4-1). Andre Jackson had 22 for Saddleback (15-7, 3-2).
“We just weren’t able to adjust defensively,” Saddleback Coach Bill Brummel said.
Cypress 64, Irvine Valley 52--Adam Rachlin scored 23 points for visiting Cypress (10-12, 3-2).
Fullerton 84, Golden West 65--Ron Strange had 20 points for Fullerton (13-9, 3-2).
Santa Ana 105, Orange Coast 93--Zac Fray had 26 points and 10 rebounds for visiting Santa Ana (19-3, 4-1).
