Oilers fall short to Los Al
IRVINE – The girls’ basketball season is barely a week old, but no one would be able to tell by the way that two bitter Sunset League rivals went at it on Saturday night.
Bodies hit the floor for every loose ball in the championship game of the South Coast Classic at University High.
Cailyn Crocker scored a game-high 29 points with 13 rebounds, and Los Alamitos took the season’s first meeting with Huntington Beach, 51-34, in what promises to be a spirited matchup this season.
The teams battled to a near draw in the first half. Crocker, a sophomore guard from a basketball family, took over Los Alamitos’ attack in the second quarter.
She drove fearlessly to the basket, drawing the contact and sinking all six of her free throws in the period. Her 10 points in the quarter helped the Griffins (4-0) fend off Huntington Beach, 21-20, going into halftime.
Crocker’s brother, Camryn, was also a high-scoring guard for the Griffins who went on to play collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I’m the youngest of three,” Crocker said of her siblings. “Contact and physicality is a big thing in my family. My brother and my sister definitely are strong with me.”
“My teammates in practice are physical with me. They don’t back down from me, even if I’m bigger or stronger. They need to foul me, but they know that it’s going to get me better.”
Sure enough, the contact didn’t seem to faze her. Crocker knocked down all 10 of her foul shots. Call it a perfect 10, as she scored 10 points in the second and fourth quarters to close out both halves.
Frankie Wade-Sanchez was relentless on the glass for the Oilers (2-2). She finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Late in the second, senior guard Kaylyn Nakaji picked up her second foul. Oilers coach Russell McClurg chose to leave her in the game, and the decision came back to haunt him as Nakaji picked up her third foul in the last minute of the second.
For the Oilers, the whistle was an equal adversary to the electrifying Crocker. Nakaji and Wade-Sanchez were each called for their fourth foul by the 2:40 mark of the third quarter.
“I thought it was a little lopsided there,” McClurg said of the foul trouble. “It was a tale of two different halves. I think the foul trouble really limited me with my options.”
“We’re not super deep, and as you can see, it kind of caught up to us.”
Nakaji had 11 points, eight rebounds, and seven steals.
With their two senior leaders either on the bench or playing carefully with four fouls, Huntington Beach was unable to keep the Griffins from pulling away in the second half.
Los Alamitos outscored Huntington Beach, 15-6, in the third to go up, 36-26, going into the final frame. Crocker’s 10-point fourth quarter sealed the game.
McClurg was encouraged by the effort that he saw from freshmen Xolani Hodel, Sophia Escalante, and Marisa Tanga in extended minutes.
He lauded Hodel, a multisport athlete who has never played basketball before.
“She’s a great soccer player, an outstanding volleyball player, and a track and field athlete,” he said. “This is a kid that you’re probably going to talk about a lot because she’s special.”
South Coast Classic
Final
Los Alamitos 51, Huntington Beach 34
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Los Al 10 - 11 - 15 - 15 - 51
HB 9 - 11 - 6 - 8 - 34
Los Al – Crocker 29, Clark 9, Avinger 7, Iwami 2, Ta’Amu 2, Galloway 2.
3-pt. goals – Crocker 1, Clark 1, Avinger 1.
Fouled out –None.
Technicals – Alvarez (Coach).
HB – Wade-Sanchez 16, Nakaji 11, Harris 3, Benabou 2, Soedel 2.
3-pt. goals – Nakaji 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
