Local teams tuning up during summer league games in Santa Ana high school gyms

Godinez Coach Greg Coombs talks to his players during a timeout Monday. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Gyms at Century, Segerstrom and Godinez have been filled up the past couple of weeks with the annual summer basketball tournament which features all the high school boys basketball teams in the Santa Ana Unified School District.

“We share it with Century and we’ve run the league ever since I was at Century,” said Godinez Coach Greg Coombs. “It’s going on 30 years.”

The tournament, which began last week and runs Mondays and Wednesday evenings through July 8, is used to prepare players for the regular season which begins in the fall.

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“A lot of what we do is we want them to learn how to compete against the higher level of athlete,” Coombs said. “Obviously, a lot of kids are moving up from junior varsity or lower levels to varsity. And we spend a lot of our time working on individual fundamentals, footwork, passing, dribbling, catching and shooting the ball.

“We do a lot more individual stuff during the summer than we have a chance to through the regular year when you’re putting in plays and preparing for the next team. It’s a fun time of the year because you can see kids develop a little bit and get more confident in what they’re doing.”

Sixteen varsity teams, eight JV teams and 10 freshman teams are involved.

“It’s nice, every school in the city plays in the league and it’s easy for our kids to get to the games at the various gyms,” Coombs said.

Other schools competing include Villa Park, Edison Northwood and Newport Harbor.

“There is a lot of good competition for the summer,” Coombs said.

Among the players expected to lead the Grizzlies are 5-8 junior Andrew Valdez, who was an all-league selection last season.

“If he continues on the path he’s on, he’s going to become one of the better guards,” Coombs said. “We have some other returning kids coming back.”

Roger Aquino, who will be a senior, is expected to be one of the Grizzlies’ top defensive players. Senior Anthony Hernandez will also be a key player, Coombs said.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com