Irvine Valley's basketball team received a season-high 28 points from sophomore post player Charlie Henderson, but it wasn't quite enough in a 68-61 Orange Empire Conference defeat to Santa Ana on Monday afternooon at home.
Henderson knocked down five three-pointers and also added seven rebounds for IVC. On the afternoon, Irvine Valley made nine three-pointers as a team.
For Henderson, it was the fourth time this season that he has gone over 20 points.
He is now averaging 15.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Freshman guard Roman Swizek added 17 points, made three three pointers and dished our four assists for Irvine Valley, which saw its record go to 4-12 overall and 4-0 in conference.
But Santa Ana shot 56.7 percent (17 of 30) in the first half to jump out to a 40-31 lead. And the Lasers were chasing the Dons the rest of the way.
Irvine Valley got as close as three points (58-55) with 3:09 to play in the game after two free throws by freshman forward Jordan Montrose and then within 61-57 after a jumper by Swizek with 2:23 left.
The Dons got a key three-pointer by Kody Uyesugi to go up by nine points with 1:10 remaining and Santa Ana made its free throws down the stretch.
Uyesegui led Santa Ana, which won its third game in a row with 18 points. Kelvonte Ellis contributed 14 points, five rebounds and four assists and Zeyu Shan had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Dons (8-9, 3-1) in the win.
Irvine Valley plays again on Wednesday, traveling to one of the top teams in the state, Fullerton, for a 7 p.m. match-up.