SANTA ANA COLLEGE UPDATE: Men’s basketball team wins behind balanced attack

Miles Sulka contributed off the bench for Santa Ana College in a victory. (Photo courtesy Santa Ana College Sports Information).

The Santa Ana College men’s basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to beat the Grossmont Griffins (2-4) 88-79 in a fast paced game last week. 

SAC (2-5) had four starters score in double digits while also getting solid bench production.

Freshman guard Kody Uyesugi hit five threes on his way to 17 points in 30 minutes of play. He also had three assists and two rebounds for the Dons. 

Fellow freshman Zeyu Shan had 17 points, making 8-of-10 field goals. He also had five rebounds and four blocks. 

Russell Malone had 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three assists and Kelvonte Ellis had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.

SAC had one of its best offensive games so far, shooting 57.8 percent overall and 42.9 percent from the three point line. 

Miles Sulka had seven points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench while Court Franklin (Calvary Chapel) had six points and three rebounds.

SAC, which has won two in a row, will host Cuyamaca next Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m..

Women’s volleyball players honored

After one of the best seasons in program history, the Santa Ana College women’s volleyball team had four players land on All-Orange Empire Conference teams. 

Sophomore Matilde Texeira was named to the first team after a huge year for the Dons. The sophomore outside hitter finished with a conference high 67 service aces and the second most kills in the OEC at 375. In the process, the standout from Portugal also broke the school record in both categories.

Ines Lopez joined her on the first team as the fellow sophomore collected 322 (third ranked in OEC) digs, taking over the third place spot in dig leaders in program history. She also added 34 service aces (third ranked in OEC) at the libero position. 

Sophomore Kaiden Raif made her second appearance on the All-OEC second team after a breakout  season. The setter from Burns, Oregon led the OEC and broke the school record in assists with 786 while adding 173 digs, 30 service aces and 22 total blocks. 

Outside hitter Alison Caswell  earned her spot on the second team with consistent performances all season. Caswell finished with 235 kills on the year, good for second most on the team, and contributed with 133 digs, 42 service aces and 20 total blocks in her sophomore season.

Football player earns defensive award

Blaze Inglesias of the Santa Ana College football team was named the 2022 American Metro League Defensive Player of the Year while 11 other Dons landed all-league honors.

Iglesias was key to a Santa Ana defensive line that led the state in sacks this season. The freshman out of Orange High School recorded a team high six sacks to go with 22 tackles and two fumble recoveries in nine games.

The Dons also had three players named to the All-American Metro First team with offensive lineman Wyatt Terlaak and wide receiver Kristian Constantine being selected unanimously while Kobe Kossak earned his spot for his performance on special teams. 

Levi Banuelos, Kyran Hayes, Jamiel Henning and Anthony Gomez made the offensive second team and Jacob Crespin, Siaosi Niumeitolu, Jaden Genove and Matt Wann were named to the defensive second team.

Women’s basketball team hosts tourney

The SAC women’s basketball team will host its own tourney from Thursday, Dec. 1 through Saturday, Dec. 3

Reams include Bakersfield, Mira Costa, Pasadena City, Porterville, Riverside City, San Diego City, San Diego Mesa and Santa Ana, which faces Bakersfield Thursday at 8 p.m. in the opener.

SAC is 3-3 after defeated Imperial Valley 76-61 in its last game. The team has been led by freshman guard Selena Hernandez, who led the Dons in scoring (18 points) and rebounding (7.8).

—Courtesy SAC Sports Information