ANAHEIM – It was not a league game.
To Kezie Okpala, though, it was an important game.
Okpala scored 36 points with 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots Friday to lead Esperanza to a 76-68 win over Villa Park at Esperanza High.
Esperanza, ranked No. 3 in Orange County and No. 11 in CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA, improved to 17-1. Villa Park, No. 6 in the O.C. top 10 and No. 2 in CIF-SS Division 2AA, is 13-4.
Villa Park had a 28-27 lead at halftime. Okpala scored the first eight points of the third quarter and ended the quarter with 15 points. He drained a 25-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Esperanza a 46-48 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Esperanza’s lead was eight points or more throughout the fourth quarter. Okpala was 7 for 7 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
Esperanza and Villa Park are in the eight-school Century Conference that divides the eight schools into two leagues, the Crestview and North Hills leagues. League membership varies by sport. For boys basketball, Esperanza is in the Crestview League and Villa Park is in the North Hills.
The reason Friday’s game was so important to Okpala? The competition. Villa Park’s Myles Franklin, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, and his 6-4 sophomore guard brother, Julien Franklin, likely would be included in anyone’s ranking of the top 20 players in O.C.
“I really wanted to win this game,” said Okpala, a 6-8 senior wing who signed with Stanford. “They have other Division 1 players and I wanted to show that I can play against other good players.”
Myles Franklin, who signed with Northeastern, scored 29 points, 15 in the fourth quarter. Julien Franklin scored 21, nine in the first quarter.
“We had some talent on the floor, huh?” said Esperanza coach Mark Hill.
The pace was frenetic, and the gym loud thanks to two of the county’s more-boisterous student sections, from the opening tip. Unwise shot selection can occur in such circumstances.
“We just kind of figured it out a little bit,” Hill said, “and we settled down.”
Okpala got some clutch help from teammates. Brendan Harrick, who finished with 14 points, made two 3s in the fourth quarter. Brandon Alpern and Jared Obermeier contributed fourth-quarter 3s.
Esperanza’s next game is a Crestview League opener, an Aztecs home game, on Tuesday against Foothill. Villa Park’s next game is a North Hills League opener on Tuesday at El Dorado.
Esperanza and Villa Park are among the 35 teams on the first CIF-SS Open Division Watch List, which is a list of candidates for the Open Division, that was released this week.
Contact the writer: sfryer@scng.com
