Santa Ana Beats Palomar for Berth in Tournament Final

Sophomore forward Lohnnie Tape scored 32 points to help Santa Ana defeat Palomar, 96-81, Sunday and reach the final of its men’s basketball tournament.

It is the fourth consecutive year the Dons (8-7) are in the final.

Tape was 13 of 18 from the field and teammate Mark Saukkola added 24 points. Saukkola had six of his team’s 11 three-pointers.

Santa Ana takes on Mt. San Antonio in the the title game at 7 tonight. Mt. San Antonio reached the final by beating Los Angeles Harbor, 77-75.

Calvin Strong scored 27 for Palomar (12-6), which plays Los Angeles Harbor at 5 p.m. in the third-place game.

In a consolation game:

Saddleback 84, Rio Hondo 77--Kenzie Weir scored 23 points and Vern Jackson had 22 for Saddleback (7-7) which advanced to the 3 p.m. consolation final today against Whatcom (Wash.).

Weir made all six of his free throws and Jackson made six of eight for the Gauchos, who made 19 of 24.

In the Hancock tournament:

Irvine Valley 57, Santa Barbara 45--Irvine Valley (11-4) advanced to play host Hancock in one semifinal at 7:30 tonight. Cerritos plays College of the Sequoias in the other semifinal at 5:30 p.m.

Cypress, which lost to Sequoias, 70-64, plays Cuesta in the consolation round at 1:30 p.m.

In second round of the the Fullerton women’s tournament:

Cypress 56, Canyons 51--Sophomore guard Nancy Love scored 20 points, all in the first half, as Cypress advanced to one semifinal at 8 tonight.

Cypress, which had a 32-17 lead, withstood Canyons’ second-half rally. Heather Green and Rachael Kavan each scored nine for Cypress.

Fullerton 59, Yakima (Wash.) 45--Fullerton scored the first seven points of the game and kept it up. Aimee Copp had 20 points (17 in the first half) and 19 rebounds for Fullerton, which meets Riverside in the semifinal at 6 tonight.

Riverside beat Antelope Valley, 64-50.

In the second round of the San Jose tournament:

American River 71, Orange Coast 58--Sophomore Jennifer Ludwicki scored 26 points for Orange Coast (12-4), which lost for the second time in three games after winning 10 in a row.