ORANGE – Orange Lutheran improved its chances of getting a guaranteed playoff berth Wednesday with a 56-52 win over JSerra in a Trinity League boys basketball game at Orange Lutheran High.

The Lancers improved their record to 15-7 overall and 3-2 in league. They are in third place in league at the end of the first half of league play.

The top three teams in the six-team league’s final standings are guaranteed to go to the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

Mater Dei (2-3 league) is in fourth place. Orange Lutheran beat Mater Dei last week, which could turn out to be an important win when the regular season ends Feb. 3.

JSerra is 14-7 overall and 1-4 in league.

The Lions have been hammered by injuries. Projected starting guard Sergio Maggette, a junior and the son of former NBA player Corey Maggette, continues to recover from an offseason ACL tear. Junior guard Sebastian Rancik, one of the team’s better players, was in concussion protocol Wednesday.

Orange Lutheran junior forward Andrew Nagy came off of the bench to lead the Lancers with 19 points. Senior guard Javon Smith scored 14 points and made four 3-pointers from the corner.

Smith shot those 3s with confidence.

“I’ve put in a lot of work into my shot,” Smith said, “and I keep shooting it in practice, and now it comes naturally in games.”

JSerra junior guard Aidan Fowler scored 27 points, more than half of his team’s total. He made his first five shots, mostly on his perfect-form jump shot, to score 12 points in the first quarter. Fowler made three 3s and had five assists.

Orange Lutheran senior guard Javon Smith scored 14 points including four corner 3s in the Lancers 56-52 win over JSerra… ⁦@ocvarsityguy⁩ ⁦@ocvarsity⁩ pic.twitter.com/41JIFTSAiB

— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) January 19, 2023

Orange Lutheran is 15-7 overall and ranked No. 4 in the Orange County Top 25. JSerra is ranked No. 6.

The biggest lead of the game belonged to JSerra, a 17-7 first-quarter advantage thanks to Fowler’s hot start. The Lions were ahead 17-13 at the end of the first quarter and 33-30 at halftime.

Orange Lutheran’s Zion Paleo made two 3-pointers and Nagy scored five points in the third quarter. JSerra made only 3 of its 14 shots in the quarter, and Orange Lutheran surged ahead to carry a 47-40 lead into the fourth quarter.

Fowler, scoreless in the third quarter, scored seven points in the final quarter to lead a JSerra rally that tied the game 52-52.

Orange Lutheran senior forward David Manea scored off of an offensive rebound and sophomore forward John Gazzaniga put in an inside shot for a 56-52 lead with 2:28 remaining. Neither team scored over the final 148 seconds.

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Orange Lutheran coach Daniel Dunbar enjoyed the way the Lancers took control in the second half.

“We didn’t have all of our stuff going early on and we had to battle back,” Dunbar said. “That’s the soul of our team. We don’t quit.”

Orange Lutheran plays at Santa Margarita in a league game Friday. JSerra plays a league game at Mater Dei on Friday.