Edison boys’ basketball beats Marina, stays perfect in Sunset

Coach Rich Boyce prizes defensive play, and his Edison High boys’ basketball team showed him plenty to like Friday. The Chargers shut down Marina for the second time in three weeks to stay a game ahead of Newport Harbor in the Sunset League race.

Spencer Serven scored 16 points and gave Marina star Jakob Alamudun a fight all night, and Josh Phillips blocked six shots and grabbed 15 rebounds to spur the visiting Chargers to a 48-36 triumph.

The Chargers improved to 6-0 in league. They lead second-place Newport Harbor (5-1 in league) by one game and third-place Los Alamitos (4-2) by two games.

Aidan Garnett added 14 points, hitting a couple of early three-pointers to stake Edison (18-5 overall) to an early advantage. David Atencio added 10 despite the effects of a flu bug that kept him off the court all week, but it was the Chargers’ work on defense that made the difference.

“That’s probably our strength, is defense,” Boyce said after Edison won its ninth successive game and 14th of 15 since mid-December. “We struggle on offense sometimes, but we always tell [our guys that] our defense always travels. So we just keep playing hard defense, and good things always happen.”

The Chargers, who led virtually the entire way, limited Marina (12-10, 2-4 in league) to just 26.4% shooting and allowed just five points on 11 offensive rebounds. Twice the Vikings missed multiple shots under the rim, and they made just one of 12 shots in the second quarter, when they outscored Edison 7-6.

“Can’t make a layup, you can’t win a game,” Marina coach Nick Racklin said. “Holding a team like that under 50 is good. But obviously 36, and we scored 37 the first time against them, so if you’re not going to put the ball in the hole, you’re not going to win very many games. We just didn’t score.”

Alamudun netted 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished off two gorgeous early assists for Dean Keeler, who scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Vikings.

“Spencer Serven is just an animal on defense,” Boyce said. “He had to battle Jakob, and I don’t care if Jakob scored 25 tonight. Spencer battled him for every second. I thought Spencer did an outstanding job defending one of the better players in [Orange County].”

Edison led by as many as 14 in the third quarter, but Marina trimmed the lead to eight with 3½ minutes to play. Keeler rebounded and scored off an Alamudun miss and Alamudun hit the second of two free throws. The Vikings could get no closer.

Marina dropped two games behind Los Alamitos in the battle for third place, but the Vikings’ CIF Southern Section Division 3A playoff aims remain intact. The No. 12-ranked Vikings play in a lower division than their league opponents.

Edison has held seven of 23 opponents under 40 points this season, and another eight have scored less than 50. The Chargers gave up only 32 in a Jan. 10 victory over Los Alamitos, their only road game during the first half of league play. That bodes well, with three of their last four league games on the road.

“Every win on the road is precious,” Boyce said, “and we’re very fortunate to get this one, because it’s not easy winning here.”

SCOTT FRENCH is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottJFrench