Ocean View boys’ basketball loses Washington, game to Cypress

The Ocean View High boys’ basketball team lost more than just the game Saturday night at Cypress.

Senior forward Nathaniel Washington hit the back of his head on the floor following his dunk with three minutes left in the first quarter. The game was delayed for about 15 minutes before Washington, conscious and able to move his extremities, was taken off on a stretcher by paramedics.

Ocean View co-coach Tim Walsh said he was encouraged with the conversation he was able to have with Washington following the injury. He said he was going to drive the team van to Los Alamitos Medical Center after the game so coaches and teammates could check on Washington, who he believed suffered a serious concussion.

“We were able to talk to him,” Walsh said. “He was able to move everything, which is awesome. By the end of it, he was frankly more disappointed about not being able to play. It was a serious concussion. He didn’t remember what had happened.

“I did feel much better after five minutes. He was talking. He was joking a little bit.”

Walsh said the team expects to be without Washington for at least the next two weeks. As for the game itself, a slow start hurt the Seahawks in an 88-77 nonleague loss in the final tuneup before league play begins next week.

Senior center Mehkel Harvey had a big game for Ocean View (12-4) with a career-high 35 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. But Cypress (12-4) got off to a hot start before Washington’s injury.

The Centurions, who were led by junior guard Jared Brown and his 20 points, took a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Brown made two early three-pointers and a layup in the run.

Cypress finished with 13 made three-pointers, including four off the bench by junior guard Anthony Tello and three by senior guard Michael Hyun.

“These guys are aggressive,” Walsh said. “They did a good job in transition. They shot the lights out tonight. Every time we got back into it and crawled back in, got it to one, it seemed like they were hitting a three. Sometimes using the backboard.”

Ocean View cut its deficit to 50-49 midway through the third quarter on a dunk by Harvey, but never could take the lead. With the Seahawks behind by nine points in the final two minutes, Cypress got three straight offensive rebounds to essentially ice the game.

“It was a good confidence-booster,” Cypress coach Derek Mitchell said. “We’re deep and we feel like we can shoot with anybody. By the end of the game, they’re going to be worn down, and we’ll still have our legs. Our goal was to let them score twos instead of threes.”

Senior guard Paul Head had 15 points for Ocean View, while junior Vincent Caiazzo had 11 points, the majority of those coming on a trio of three-pointers.

Ocean View begins Golden West League play Wednesday at Segerstrom at 6:30 p.m.

*

Cypress 88, Ocean View 77

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Ocean View 14 – 23 – 20 – 20 — 77

Cypress 23 – 21 – 20 – 24 — 88

OV – Harvey 35, Head 15, Caiazzo 11, Mishler 10, Nielsen 4, Washington 2.

3-pt. goals – Head 3, Caiazzo 3, Mishler 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

C – Brown 20, Papke 14, Huyn 13, Tello 12, Pham 10, Papke 10, Pulsifer 6, Degener 3.

3-pt. goals – Tello 4, Brown 3, Huyn 3, Pham 2, Degener 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo