Irvine Valley's men's basketball heads into its Orange Empire Conference opener on Wednesday night with some momentum.
IVC takes on Santa Ana Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at home.
The Lasers wrapped up their non-conference schedule with a solid win at LA Valley. IVC also played some of its best basketball of the season two weeks earlier in the Bill Brummel Classic at Saddleback.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 9-6 overall after a 85-81 win over LA Valley on Dec. 30 on the road.
Freshman forward Lance Coleman II had another big game, finishing with a season-high 32 points. He added 10 rebounds. Sophomore point guard Zuri Williams ended with 15 points and five assists and sophomore guard Anthony Hernandez had nine points and seven rebounds.
Two weeks earlier, the team won two of three games in a tough tournament at Saddleback. IVC knocked off state-ranked teams San Diego City and Mt. San Jacinto before falling to No. 1-ranked Saddleback, 60-52, in a close game in the final.
Williams and Coleman were named to the all-tournament team.
Coleman leads the Orange Empire Conference in scoring, averaging 21.3 points per game. He is also ranked fifth in the state in scoring.
Sophomore wing Mike Turner averages 9.5 points, Williams is averaging 9.3 points, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals and sophomore forward Zach Harvey averages 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Santa Ana has a record of 5-11 overall. The Dons dropped two of three games in the San Diego Mesa Tournament last week.
The team defeated Mesa, 83-79, in overtime and then fell to West Hills, 84-81, in overtime and to Cuyamaca, 86-69.
QV Johnson averages 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, Jason Walker is averaging 14.0 points a game, Robby Bracho averages 11.6 points and Andrew Harper averages 10.7 points and 2.9 assists a game for the Dons.
After Wednesday night, Irvine Valley plays at Saddleback on Friday in a conference game at 7 p.m.
