ANAHEIM – Mark Butler knocked down many shots and one cheerleader.
He scored 24 points for Savanna in the Rebels’ 82-73 win over El Modena in a CIF-Southern Section boys basketball Division 2A first-round playoff game Friday at Savanna.
Savanna (11-19) will play Lynwood (20-7) in a second-round game Tuesday at Savanna.
Butler scored 18 points in the second half. Savanna’s Michael Enis scored 21 of his 23 points in the first half.
Legend Demps led El Modena (8-20) with 31 points. Demps, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, made five 3-pointers and the most-athletic play of the game: flying to the hoop, he grabbed a teammate’s miss with one hand and fired it through the hoop.
Butler, a 5-foot-7 junior, got most of his points from hustle, making backcourt steals or snaring loose balls and turning them into layups or short jumpers. That hustle included bumping a cheerleader to the floor while trying to save the ball from going out of bounds.
A typical Butler bucket came midway through the fourth quarter: He missed a free throw, a scramble for the basketball knocked it the past the baseline; Savanna’s Abraham Mansaray chased it down and slapped it to keep it inbounds; Butler, also on the move, grabbed the ball and made a 10-foot runner that nudged the Rebels’ lead to 15 points.
Savanna coach John Konrad said those all-out plays define the Rebels’ style.
“They’re a fun group to coach and a fun group to watch,” Konrad said. “They put on a good show.”
Butler said Savanna has to play this way.
“We have to hustle because we’re so small,” Butler said; no Rebels starter Friday was taller than 5-11. “We’ve got to outrun them because that’s all we can do.”
Enis, a 5-10 senior, scored close to his average of 21.5 points a game that has him as the county’s seventh-leading scorer. Demps was fifth in county scoring at 22 points a game.
Savanna led by 17 points midway through the final quarter. El Modena led briefly in the second quarter. Savanna had a seven-point lead at halftime and steadily expanded it from there.
Kyle Davis scored 14 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, for Savanna. El Modena’s Brendan Ruiz scored 12 points, with three 3s, and David Arroyo added 10 points.
The Rebels won the Orange League championship with a 10-0 league record. The Rebels’ overall record would be better but they had to forfeit five nonleague wins for using an ineligible player.
Butler fought through cramps in the fourth quarter. When the game was over, he still had plenty of energy. See, there was that cheerleader he bowled over …
“I don’t know her name,” Butler said, “but I’m going to get her number.”
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
