LAKE FOREST Foothill was missing Eric Patton, but Greg Blanchard wasn’t missing many shots.
With All-CIF forward Patton out with the flu, Blanchard made 5 of his 6 shots as Foothill built a 17-point lead in the first half and cruised from there Tuesday in a 47-35 win over Woodbridge in the final game of the two-day Orange County North/South Challenge at El Toro High.
Blanchard, a 6-foot-7 senior, scored all of his 13 points in the first half. He was named player of the game. Lucas Araujo scored a game-high 14 points for the Knights, who are 10-1 and ranked No. 4 in Orange County.
Foothill leading scorer Riley O’Hern is regaining strength after getting over the flu. He did not start Tuesday and scored two points, 14 below his average.
Knights coach Rusty Van Cleave was confident his team would do just fine without Patton and O’Hern not at 100 percent.
“We’ve got some guys who like to play defense,” Van Cleave said. “That helped us out a little bit.”
Woodbridge (4-7) busted out to a 7-2 lead. O’Hern’s only basket of the game at the end of the first quarter gave Foothill a 12-10 lead going into the second quarter.
The Knights went on a 16-0 run from there to make it 26-10. They outscored Woodbridge, 20-5, in the quarter as they made 8 of 14 shots to take a 32-15 lead into halftime.
Foothill had a 39-22 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Foothill next plays in the Orange Holiday Classic that begins Friday. The Knights play San Juan Hills at 3:30 p.m. at Hope University.
Woodbridge’s J.T. Okonkwo scored all 10 of his team-high points in the fourth quarter. The Warriors begin play in the Las Vegas Prep Championship on Friday.
Also in the North/South Challenge:
Corona del Mar 64, San Clemente 47: Sam Kobrine’s 19 points led the Sea Kings (6-3). Matt Ctvrlik scored 14 points and Tae Le added 12 for Corona del Mar.
Valencia 56, Dana Hills 40: Eric Yang’s 15 points led the Tigers (9-1). He made four 3-pointers and was named player of the game.
El Dorado 60, Capistrano Valley 56: Nate Christopher and Elijah Mosham scored 15 points apiece for the Golden Hawks (8-3). Alex Weber added 13 points for El Dorado. Mosham was selected player of the game.
El Toro 63, Fountain Valley 31: Trey Jordan scored 20 points with five 3-pointers for the Chargers (9-2). He earned player of the game honors.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
