Sunset League : Foster Comes Off Bench to Lead Edison Past Marina, 50-45

There’s no doubt that Cherokee Parks, Marina High School’s 6-foot 9-inch freshman center, is going to have a big impact on the Sunset League for years to come.

But Friday night, in the league opener against Edison at Marina, his biggest impact was on the Edison backboard.

Late in the third quarter, Parks--who started the game quickly with a field goal and a free throw to give the Vikings a 5-0 lead--tried to block a layup by Edison’s Mike Foster and slapped the backboard on his way.

The slap earned Parks a technical foul and Foster, whose layup counted, made one of two free throws to bring the Chargers within three points, 36-33, the closest they had been to the Vikings.

The incident proved to be a turning point in the game, which Edison went on to win, 50-45.

The Chargers (11-5, 1-0) fell behind early, scoring only six points in the first quarter, and trailing Marina at halftime, 28-20.

Forward Steve Guild had 16 points and 6 rebounds in the first half to lead Marina (11-4, 0-1).

But Foster, coming off the bench, not only helped control Guild in the second half, but provided the Chargers’ offensive spark, leading Edison with 12 points.

Edison tied the score at the start of the fourth quarter on a basket by reserve Chris Henry. The teams traded leads five times, then Foster opened the game up with 3 1/2 minutes to play, first shooting two free throws after being fouled by Parks, then stealing the ball and scoring, to give Edison a 48-41 lead.

“Foster’s been coming off the bench very well,” Edison Coach Jon Borchert said. “And his defense on Guild was a real turning point.”

Guild led all scorers with 25 points, the only Viking to score in double figures. Parks’ early five points were all he scored.

“We didn’t take advantage of our height inside,” said Steve Popovich, Marina coach. “And we didn’t hit the key buckets in the fourth quarter.”

Foster scored 10 points for Edison in the second half, including four of six shots from the free throw line.

Edison, which didn’t shoot a free throw in Wednesday’s 50-48 loss to Long Beach Wilson, made 6 of 10 free throws Friday, all in the second half. Marina was 12 of 13 from the line.

Guard Dirk Paul and forward Mike Hunter each scored 10 points for Edison. Hunter led the team with eight rebounds.

Forward Dan Floyd had 10 rebounds for Marina.

Huntington Beach 93, Westminster 60--Rich Hughes scored a game-high 27 points to lead Huntington Beach, which had only three turnovers at Westminster. Andy Thompson added 17 and Jeff Long 13 for Huntington Beach (7-9, 1-0).

Huntington Beach shot 48% (30 for 62) from the field and 77% (27 for 35) at the free-throw line.

Huntington Beach opened a 46-32 halftime lead and led, 67-44, after three quarters. Chris Tower scored 25 and Eric Kudas 12 for Westminster (8-7, 0-1).

Fountain Valley 70, Ocean View 64--Jim Borgquist scored 19 points, Kevin Anderson 18 and Tom Weaver 15 for host Fountain Valley (11-2, 1-0). Craig Rice scored 23 points, Mike Frohn 18 Todd Norman 15 for Ocean View (5-6, 0-1). Fountain Valley opened a 22-16 lead at the end of the first quarter and never trailed.