Brea Overwhelms Savanna in Orange League Opener

Brea Olinda is the latest boys’ basketball team to survive the schedule-maker and its opponent.

In another early-season matchup of league favorites that have been prevalent in the county the last 10 days, the Wildcats raced to a 73-59 victory over host Savanna in an Orange League opener Wednesday night.

Landon Lewis scored 16 points, Jerett Skrifvars had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Rick Boehm scored 10 points for fifth-ranked Brea (15-2, 1-0), which had a lot on its mind as it entered the Rebel gym.

“We had to get this one. It was a big game for us,” said Brea guard Kyle Dodd, who had eight points and 13 assists. “Last year, we lost our season opener and it hurt us.”

A year ago Magnolia upset the Wildcats and went on to win the league title, a sour feeling that Dodd said is in the back of each player’s mind this season.

“We’ve been playing pretty well and we have to continue to do that,” he said. “A lot of people think the Orange League isn’t that tough, but teams come in eyeing for us and they try to beat us.”

Savanna, which got 20 points from center Aipolo Boone and 19 points and nine rebounds from forward Allan Purnell, gave the Wildcats a game. But the Rebels were hurt by their inability to make easy shots around the basket. Savanna made 29 of 58 shots but missed a variety of layups and short jumpers, particularly in the third quarter when Brea, which led by seven at halftime, put the game away with a 19-7 run.

“We missed a lot of shots, but then a lot of that was things they were doing to make us miss,” second-year Rebel Coach James Honell said.