JSerra boys basketball earns much-needed victory over Orange Lutheran

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — The JSerra boys basketball team needed a win badly after entering Trinity League play with a three-game losing streak.

JSerra got a much-needed win by cruising to an 80-66 win over Orange Lutheran in its Trinity League opener Friday at JSerra High.

The Lions (14-8, 1-0) are ranked No. 3 in the Orange County Top 25 and Orange Lutheran (14-6, 0-1) is No. 10.

The game resembled a hockey game at times due to JSerra coach Keith Wilkinson bringing in substitutes for all five players on the court at the same time, and he did it multiple times throughout the game.

Wilkinson said the unique strategy will not be a trend going forward and the mass substitutions were due to JSerra’s players battling illness in recent weeks.

“We’ve been really sick and have had multiple guys the last week missing practices,” Wilkinson said. “Influenza B was the thing multiple guys tested for. There hasn’t been a lot of time to earn minutes in practice because so many guys have been out, so it’s like, ‘you’re going to get opportunities in games. What are you going to do with it?’”

“That was unique for tonight. I don’t think we’ll do that much going forward.”

JSerra had a major size advantage over Orange Lutheran and the Lions took advantage. The Lions outrebounded Orange Lutheran 38-25 and had 42 points in the paint compared to 14 for the Lancers.

Sophomore Ryan Doane, who is 6-foot-9, led JSerra with 16 rebounds, and Lincoln Fa’alafi, a 6-foot-8, 350-pound football standout,  had 12 points and three blocks.

“I hold Ryan to a really high standard because I think he can be a really incredible player,” Wilkinson said. “He’s learning how to be the guy and it’s really hard as a sophomore to step into that role. Lincoln is going to be a heck of a football player some day, but gosh dang he impacts high school basketball games right now.”

JSerra went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter to blow the game open and led by 20 points at one point.

Orange Lutheran struggled from 3-point range in the first half but started making those shots in the second half and cut JSerra’s lead to nine points late in the fourth quarter.

The Lancers shot just 19 percent from 3-point range in the first half but shot 40 percent in the second half.

Noah Zeola scored 19 points for Orange Lutheran and made five 3-pointers. Josh King, who is Orange Lutheran’s leading scorer this season, had 15 points and Ethan McCoy added 11.

Jaden Bailes led JSerra with 16 points. Earl Bryson had 14 points with six assists.

The Trinity League teams only play one round of league games before playing in a league tournament that begins Feb. 2. The results of the league games determine seeding for that tournament, similar to what the Pacific Coast League has been doing for the past few seasons.

Wilkinson made his position very clear on the new league format.

“I can’t stand it and you can print that in bold,” Wilkinson said. “I’m a big believer in rivalries and being able to do a home-and-home (series). I think it makes it worse to be honest. I voted against it and I will 100 percent vote against it again the next time it comes up.”

JSerra will host Santa Margarita on Friday, Jan. 16. Orange Lutheran will play Servite on the road Friday, Jan. 16.