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Segerstrom’s Claudia Solis of the Away team goes on a fast break to score a layup as Home team’s Cynthia Silva of Santa Ana defends during the first half of the Santa Ana Prep Classic. (PHOTOS: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
In the girls game of the Santa Ana Prep Classic Friday night, the Away team jumped out to a fast start against the Home team and rolled to a 66-38 victory at Santa Ana High School.
Seniors from mainly Santa Ana Unified School District high school squads were once again divided into Away and Home teams in the annual event sponsored by the Raya Foundation.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
The Away team, coached by Shonyta Pouncey from Segerstom, raced out to a 9-0 lead, led 29-21 at halftime and was in control the rest of the game against the Home team, coached by Santa Ana’s Dana Nguyen, who led the Saints to the CIF Division 5A finals and into the semifinals of the CIF State Division V tournament.
It was Santa Ana’s farthest run in post-season play.
“It was an honor and a privilege once again to be chosen,” Pouncey said. “To be chosen here again and to be with some of the better players in the city, it was really fun and we had a really good, talented squad. I would never think that the score would be like this. We played really good on defense and we got a lot of rebounds.
“It was a fun contest, the Raya Foundation always puts on a good show for people and blessed to be chosen this year, it really means a lot for me.”
Some of Pouncey’s Segerstrom players led the way: Stephanie Valenciano scored 16 points and Claudia Solis had 14 points. Maria Aburto (Santa Ana Valley) added 11 points for the Away team.
“They’re just competitive kids,” Pouncey said. “They play hard and they play well together. I’m just very blessed to be the coach at Segerstrom. It was very nice for them to go out in the last one and we got all of the girls over 22 minutes each. We just wanted to make sure for them and their families they had all the same (time) or at least 20 (minutes each).”
Playing on their homecourt, Santa Ana’s Kalleigh Solis had 13 points and Cynthia Silva 11 points to lead the Home team.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com