Santa Ana boys basketball team uses depth to defeat TVT 65-38 in opening round of CIF 5AA playoffs

Santa Ana players celebrate with their head coach Fareed Elmasry (front, center) after Saturday’s playoff victory.

Santa Ana High’s boys basketball team used its depth in the second quarter to take control and defeat Tarbut V’ Torah of Irvine 65-38 Saturday night in the opening round of the CIF 5AA playoffs at Santa Ana.

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Santa Ana (15-13 overall) outscored TVT 21-10 in the second quarter to take a 31-15 lead at halftime and was in control the rest of the way. The Saints led 51-27 after three quarters and substituted freely in the fourth quarter.

The Saints move on to the second round Tuesday night on the road against Riverside County Education Academy of Moreno Valley.

“I think we definitely had more athletes than them,” said Santa Ana Coach Fareed ElMasry. “We definitely had a little bit of a height advantage as well, so that really came into fruition. They tried to deny our best player and they did a pretty good job kind of, but he still scored eight points in the first quarter.”

That player was senior Jesus Silva, who wound up with a game high 15 points.

“It was a good victory, no one really expected us to come to CIF (playoffs), but we got here,” Silva said. “Three years on varsity, this was my first time (in the playoffs), so it was a great experience.”

Both teams struggled in the first quarter to get untracked but Santa Ana held a 10-5 lead going into the second quarter.

TVT (13-3) used its starting five most of the game and Santa Ana was able to utilize its deep bench.

“We kind of struggled in the first half to find a rhythm,” El Masry said. “In the second half, we really put the pressure on them and that really helped forcing turnovers and getting into transition. I’m happy with the defensive effort. Coaching over there is really good. Credit to their coaching staff for coming out with a good game plan.”

Sebastian Olvera added eight points and Saay Silva, Jerry Estrella and Drew Ramirez had six points each for Santa Ana. Estrella hit two 3’s in the final minute of the second quarter to send the Saints into the locker-room feeling pretty good.

Kabir Suri scored 13 points and Ben Siegel added 10 points for TVT.