Buena Park earns third place and qualifies for CIF playoffs with victory over Santa Ana

Buena Park players and coaches after Wednesday’s victory over Santa Ana. (PHOTO: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Buena Park High School’s boys basketball team is going to the CIF playoffs for the first time in five years.

The Coyotes used a dominating second half to break open a close game and defeated Santa Ana 60-43 Wednesday night at Buena Park. After tying for third place in the Golden West League, Buena Park and the Saints met for the second consecutive night in a play-in game with the winner advancing to the CIF playoffs.

Coyotes’ freshman forward Ernesto Portas led all scorers with 17 points as Buena Park (8-20, 4-5) outscored Santa Ana 33-18 in the second half to win going away.

“The key was team defense; we never let up,” said Portas, who scored 22 points Tuesday night against Santa Ana to force the play-in game on Wednesday. “We’re playing our best basketball of the season right now and we want to win a CIF championship.”

Emmanuel Charagu played a huge part in the Coyotes attack as he scored 13 points and helped the Buena Park defense force 16 Saints turnovers.

“We spend a lot of time in practice working on defense and tonight we came out hard on defense, got stops and forced turnovers,” said Charagu. “I’m a senior and this is my first trip to the playoffs and we’re all excited about it.”

A basket by Santa Ana’s senior forward Aaron Rivera at the 2:47 mark of the third quarter cut the Buena Park lead to 36-34.  However, the Coyotes, sparked by three consecutive baskets by Portas and two three-point plays by Charagu and Laim Gallego went on a 10-2 run to finish the quarter and build a 46-36 lead after three periods.

“A lot of people didn’t think we get this far, and we started out slow this season, but we rebounded and turned the season around and it’s great to be going to the playoffs,” said Gallego. “Tonight, we had good ball movement and really trusted each other as a team.” 

Zyaire Eastland led a 9-0 run for the Coyotes to start the fourth quarter that took the wind out of the Saints. Eastland nailed a basket and then a 3-pointer to start Buena Park’s rally and Cesar Salgado added a bucket at the 5:48 mark of the quarter to give the Coyotes a commanding 55-36 lead.

Santa Ana (7-19, 3-6) didn’t score in the final quarter until Alex Lopez’s basket with 2:57 play but it was too little and too late.

“In the second half we worked hard on defense and made shots,” said Eastland, who scored 11 points. “We’re all happy that we’re going to the playoffs. It’s a big deal but we must keep working hard to keep winning.”

Santa Ana Coach Rick Mares credited Portas.

“I think we got fatigued and their freshman (Portas) made some big shots; you have to give Buena Park credit,” said Mares. “It’s a disappointing way to finish the season but we’ll go back and start to get ready for next season.”

Coyotes Coach Robert Summers was elated that his team is going to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

“I’m so excited and proud of these guys,” said Summers. “Our defense has improved over the second half of the season and credit goes to the whole team. We got outstanding games tonight from Ceasar (Salgado) and Cristian (Sanchez). They moved the ball around well, hustled after loose balls and forced turnovers. I’m really excited for our guys. We started out slow this season, but we became defensive minded and that’s how we came out tonight.”

The game was tied at 15-15 after the first quarter and Buena Park held a 27-25 lead at halftime but the Coyotes started to pull away late in the third quarter. 

Rivera scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half to lead the Saints. Issac Alvarez also added 10 points for Santa Ana.

Salgado scored 10 points and Gallego added nine points for Buena Park.   

Notes:

—Santa Ana guard Pedro Moran, who drilled eight 3-pointers against Laguna Hills last Friday, played despite battling the flu.  

—The Saints last qualified for the playoffs in 2023.

—Wednesday’s matchup was the third time the two teams had played each other this season. Santa Ana won the first game 65-37 while the Coyotes won the final two contests.