SoCalHoops High School News

High School Team Preview:
Santa Ana Valley HS--(Nov. 26, 1999)

Santa Ana Valley High School is located at 1801 South Greenville in the city of Santa Ana. It's a public 4 year high school, coeducational, with an enrollment of 1660 students in all four grades. The team competes in the Century League in the CIF Southern Section against Canyon (Anaheim), El Modena, Foothill, Orange, and Villa Park.  Kevin Stipp is the boys' varsity basketball coach, and he's going into his fifth season there.  During the previous four years, he's compiled a 53-60 won-loss record.  Last season the team finished in sixth place, tied for dead last with Orange at 2-8 in league competition.  Overall, the team went 9-17, but any thought of playing in the playoffs last season were nothing more than a glimmer.  Had they qualified, they would have played in Division II-A, or possibly even III-AA, but then it's hard to tell these days since the division cutoffs keep changing. Where they end up this year is anyone's guess.

Like the rest of the Century League team previews we've posted today, we haven't been able to speak personally with coach Stipp, so we don't have much in the way of background on him or indeed on many of the players, nor can we be certain that we've got a complete roster (in fact we're pretty certain that the roster below is actually incomplete).  But something's better than nothing, and here's what we've been able to piece together from the previews that the Orange County Register ran for the Century League Teams in it's November 22, 1999 edition, and from the LA Times Orange County edition published November 23:

Again, we're fairly certain that others will show up on the roster once the season gets going, but these are the guys who we know about.  The LA Times' preview of the team said this about the players and the team outlook:   "Eliu Fatu, a 6-4 senior forward (16 points, 12 rebounds), anchors a young team that Coach Kevin Stipp believes "will make mistakes but play hard." Seniors Alex Cervantes, a 5-11 guard (six points, six rebounds), and Haian Trinh, a 6-2 forward (seven rebounds), are returning starters. Alex Landa, a 5-10 guard who averaged four points, is expected to earn a starting role. Guards Enrique Flores, Isaias Gonzalez, Alex Oregel and David Werdel are battling for playing time.  The Orange County Register's Steve Fryer compiled the preview for Santa Ana Valley for his paper. Here's what he wrote: "The Falcons have a dependable player in the post with Fatu, a returning all-league forward.  The rest of the team generally lacks varsity experience.  Stipp is counting on good outside shooting to lessen Fatu's burden.

Here's a look at the schedule for this season:

And if the mood strikes you to go and check out one of the Falcons' home games, you'll need to know where you're going.  Here's a handy map for just such an occasion.

Santa Ana Valley High School 1801 South Greenville, Santa Ana, CA (714) 241-6410

 
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