Laguna Beach Tournament : Brazzel Gives Huntington Beach Spark in Win

There’s nothing like a long shot at the buzzer to give a basketball team a big boost.

Huntington Beach High School forward Kevin Brazzel provided just such a spark with a 22-foot shot to end the third quarter, and the Oilers went on to gain a 71-62 victory over Troy Tuesday night in the opening round of the 17th Laguna Beach basketball tournament.

Brazzel’s shot hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded and tied the score, 50-50, going into the fourth quarter. But Brazzel, a 6-foot 4-inch senior, was just warming up.

He scored seven of his game-high 26 points during an 11-2 spurt that broke open the game and spoiled Ed Graham’s coaching debut at Troy after four successful seasons at Orange.

Brazzel turned the game around midway through the quarter. He scored on a jump shot from the baseline, added a free throw and then broke clear for an easy layin to push the Oilers ahead, 67-58.

Troy went nearly three minutes without scoring a field goal and made only 4 of 15 shots in the fourth period. Graham said his players have yet to learn their roles.

“We had the wrong guys shooting the ball in the second half,” he said. “I also thought our post play was soft with Mike Picciotta out of the lineup.”

Picciotta, a 6-5 center, was sidelined with a sprained ankle suffered in practice. With him out, the Warriors were repeatedly hurt inside.

Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller expected his team to start slowly with two starters--center Dan Goodwin and guard John Apostle--joining the team only eight days ago after the conclusion of the football season.

The Oilers compounded their problems with Brazzel and guard Rodney Marx getting into early foul trouble. Huntington Beach opened a 16-8 lead in the first quarter, but Troy moved into a 35-35 halftime tie with Brazzel and Marx on the bench.

“We got into foul trouble right off the bat, and then had to rely on our speed with a smaller lineup,” Miller said.

In other first-round play:

Los Alamitos 57, Warren 45--Reserve forward Rob Lester’s three-point play with 1:41 left broke open a close game.

Lester also scored on a follow shot and added a free throw in the final minute. He scored seven of his 10 points in the last quarter. Griffin center Moe Warner scored 12 points and had 17 rebounds, and teammate Ryan Blossey led all scorers with 17 points.

“We missed a lot of layups, but we closed well,” said Griffin Coach Steve Brooks. “We also played very good defense.”

Corona del Mar 83, Dana Hills 61--Forward Marcus Muller-Stach scored 26 points and teammate Chris Hook added 17 as 16-year assistant Paul Orris was successful in his debut as the Sea Kings’ coach.