Sunset League : At Least One Thing’s Clear: Edison’s in Playoffs

Amidst the confusion of determining the three playoff representatives from Sunset League, one thing is certain. Edison High School will be in the CIF Southern Section 5-A division playoffs next week after Wednesday night’s 64-56 victory over Marina.

The victory evened the Chargers’ record at 5-5, which is good enough for second place and a postseason berth from the six-team league. If only the rest of the league race was as easy to determine.

Ocean View, which won the league title with a 10-0 record, will have its fate determined today in Orange County Superior Court when Judge Harmon G. Scoville rules on a petition from Seahawk Coach Jim Harris and the basketball booster club to have the Southern Section’s sanction that bars the team from the playoffs overturned.

Marina, meanwhile, fell into a three-way tie for third place with Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley at 4-6. Here’s where things get confusing.

League representatives met earlier on Friday to determine a tiebreaker for the playoffs. Fountain Valley will be the league’s No. 2 entry because the Barons had a 3-1 record against Marina and Huntington Beach.

Marina is No. 3, but its fate is pending the result of the court ruling. The Vikings will make the playoffs if the Ocean View sanctions are upheld. Huntington Beach went 1-3 against Fountain Valley and Marina, and is eliminated from the playoff picture.

Edison’s victory on Wednesday night had added importance. If Ocean View loses its case today, the Chargers become will be the league’s No. 1 representative, and will play at home in the first round.

Either way, Charger Coach Jon Borchert was happy Wednesday. After all, last season the Chargers had to forfeit five games on the last week of the season for using an illegal player. The forfeitures dropped Edison out of the playoffs.

“This was gratifying, but we sure didn’t make it easy on ourselves,” Borchert said. “There was some fear that this might be our last game of the season.”

The Chargers could have made it easier on themselves against Marina, but they struggled; Edison made 12 of 23 free-throw attempts. Guards Ken Ammann and Rich Smith combined for 34 points, and Smith’s three-point play with 5:23 to play was the game’s turning point.

The score was tied, 46-46, when Smith recovered a loose ball off a missed free throw and scored on a follow shot. He was fouled on the play, made the free throw and Marina never got closer than five points.

“I thought we did a nice job offensively,” Borchert said. “We were patient and shot real well after the first couple of minutes of play. We also did a good defensive job against (Mike) Meyers. He scored 25 points against us the last time we played.”

Meyers was limited to just nine points in the rematch and had only a free throw in the second half. Mark Georgeson had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Vikings.

MARINA (56)--Guild 15, Quinn 8, Georgeson 14, Meyers 9, Craft 4, Padilla 4, Martin 2.

EDISON (64)--Cole 15, Katona 6, Ammann 16, Smith 18, Margulies 4, Henderson 5.

Fountain Valley 61, Huntington Beach 48--The Barons earned a playoff berth by defeating Huntington Beach for the second time this season. Scott Wessler scored 21 points and Kevin Waite added 14 points as the Barons improved to 13-12 overall.

Huntington Beach had problems against Fountain Valley’s matchup zone and made only 16 of 42 field goal attempts. The Oilers, who finished the year at 10-14, also committed 27 turnovers.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY (61)--Wessler 21, Johnson 14, Waite 14, Borgquist 3, Briggs 4, Hanson 3, Ashcraft 2.

HUNTINGTON BEACH (48)--Snow 14, Kao 8, Jensen 8, Vitz 5, Pariseau 5, Pemper 4, Bettis 4.

Ocean View 69, Westminster 48--The Seahawks completed their second consecutive 10-0 season in the league with a romp over the Lions and now await the court’s decision today. Ocean View held a 30-26 lead at halftime, but made 15 of 20 free throw attempts in the second half to pull away.

Blaine DeBrouwer made eight of nine free throw attempts in the second half and finished with a game-high 20 points. Ricky Butler was held to 9 points, but he had 13 rebounds.

OCEAN VIEW (69)--Panzica 12, Hazely 6, Butler 9, Morris 6, DeBrouwer 20, Vogtmann 6, Johnson 3, Diaz 4, Padhiar 3.

WESTMINSTER (48)--Dever 7, Chiasson 6, Cabias 2, Smith 4, Svaboda 8, Austin 9, Racine 4, Love 8.