Century League : Brawl Mars Santa Ana’s 52-41 Win Over Tustin : Move Into First Overshadowed by Third Fight

The name of the game is basketball, so why has Santa Ana High School been involved in three bench-clearing brawls in the past 10 days?

Tustin Coach Tim O’Brien said he was wondering this Friday night after the Saints defeated his Tillers, 52-41, to gain sole possession of first place with a 9-1 record.

“Where’s the integrity?” asked O’Brien. “(Bobby) Joyce threw the ball in my kid’s face and it wasn’t even a flagrant foul. Just when things calmed down, he (Joyce) sucker punched my guy.

“Santa Ana has the reputation for this. They fought with Foothill, and I heard they got into it with Canyon Wednesday night. We don’t need this.”

Indeed, the Saints’ image has been tarnished. These days, Santa Ana is really beating its opponents.

On Friday night, Joyce, a sophomore forward, was ejected with 1:17 remaining after he threw a punch at Tustin forward Dave Patstone. Joyce had been fouled after receiving a pass at midcourt and threw the ball at a Tustin player.

Several players exchanged words, but referees Dennis Harris and Darryl Cobbs seemed to have everything in order when Joyce punched Patstone. The punch was the enough to send players from both benches onto the court.

Only 10 days earlier, tempers flared in Santa Ana’s game against Foothill that saw several fights break out as players and fans mixed it up. This time, the fighting was confined to the players.

Greg Coombs, Saint coach, stopped short of defending Joyce’s actions, but was said Patstone and Tiller forward Rog Middleton were taunting Joyce the entire game. Coombs also said Joyce’s mouth was bleeding at halftime following an elbow from Middleton late in the second quarter.

“I told Bobby to keep his cool at halftime,” Coombs said. “He was getting that (taunting) the whole ballgame. He’s 15 years old and could only take so much. Middleton was pushing him the whole game.”

Harris was forced to officiate the game by himself in the first half when his partner did not show. Cobbs, who arrived at halftime, said he came to watch his friend, Harris, but went home to get his uniform when he saw there was one referee.

“One official cannot control a game,” Coombs said. “Everybody is going to say it was our fault, but I’ll invite anybody to watch our films, and they’ll see it hasn’t been our fault in any of these incidents. We’re a young team that everybody wants to beat.

“It seems like the other teams get frustrated at the end of the game when they’re losing. A Canyon player took a swing at Scooty (Lynwood) the other night out of frustration. You taunt a 15-year-old kid for 30 minutes and see what happens.”

O’Brien downplayed his team’s taunting tactics, saying: “So they were taunting him? Is that an excuse to start throwing sucker punches?”

SANTA ANA (52)--Turner 8, Stewart 10, Joyce 16, Lynwood 18.

TUSTIN (41)--Anderson 12, Parker 4, Middleton 16, Parks 2, Patstone 4, Hermann 2, Gonzalez 1.

El Modena 77, Foothill 63--Reserve Jeff Steingraber scored 8 of his 10 points in the second quarter as the Vanguards raced to a 43-29 halftime lead and scored an upset.

Foothill never led in the game and the closest the Knights got was 13-9 midway through the first quarter. El Modena outscored Foothill, 21-12, in the second quarter as Steingraber scored six unanswered points.

Ryan Rycraw, a three-year starter, paced the Vanguards with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Alan Schlines had 22 points for the Knights. Foothill is 8-2, 16-5. El Modena is 6-4, 9-9.

EL MODENA (77)--Ervin 7, Hamlin 16, Ahart 8, Rycraw 21, Matlock 4, Steingraber 10, DeFeo 11.

FOOTHILL (63)--Johnson 10, Schlines 22, Grahovac 11, Jordan 9, Rasmussen 6, Kopcha 5.

Orange 56, Villa Park 43--The Panthers made 12 of 23 free throw attempts and moved into a third-place tie with El Modena. Dave Roth scored 22 points for Orange while Greg Burton led the Spartans with 20 points. Orange is 6-4, 11-10; Villa Park fell to 0-10, 4-14.

ORANGE (56)--Roth 22, Dowell 10, Holman 10, Smith 2, Adams 6, Smith 4, Litwin 2.

VILLA PARK (43)--Barnett 8, Burton 20, Creagan 2, Storck 4, Tanner 6, Sipe 3.

Santa Ana Valley 71, Canyon 56--Center Alonzo Jamison scored 19 points and forward Michael Whitlock added 12 as the Falcons improved their record to 4-6, 9-11. Ralph Garcia was Canyon’s leading scorer with 19 points. The Comanches are 2-8, 6-14.

SANTA ANA VALLEY (71)--Jamison 19, Contreras 8, Johnson 4, Wilchie 9, Nguyen 2, Whitlock 12, Alvarez 16, Acosta 1.

CANYON (56)--Garcia 19, Mury 1, Simpson 2, Ream 14, Frye 4, Williams 6, Pavlish 10.