Prep Basketball : Edison Earns Sunset’s 3rd Playoff Spot With Win Over Fountain Valley

Edison High School’s boys’ basketball team defeated Fountain Valley, 68-49, Saturday at Huntington Beach to earn the third-place playoff spot from the Sunset League.

The two teams had tied for third in the regular season.

The Chargers opened up a close game by scoring 21 points in the third quarter and 24 in the fourth. Guard Alvin Loftis scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second half.

“I was very pleased with his play,” said Jon Borchert, Edison coach. “Tonight he made good decisions in his shot selection and in his passing.”

Loftis also led both teams with six assists.

Edison was in control of every phase of the game midway through the third quarter when it broke out to a 20-point lead. Edison started the quarter by outscoring Fountain Valley, 13-3.

“The players executed and played hard,” Borchert said. “We shot the ball well.”

The Chargers shot 50% for the game from the field.

“They played very intensely,” said Dave Brown, Fountain Valley coach. “Edison just executed better offensively and defensively.”

Fountain Valley was only down by two after the first quarter, but could only score six points in the second and found itself down by seven at halftime.

The loss was Fountain Valley’s sixth straight to league opponents after starting the season with five straight victories.

The Chargers also controlled the boards to keep Fountain Valley from ever mounting a comeback.

“Our rebounding was good,” Borchert said. “I thought (Chris) Lippincott, (Chip) Hanlon, (Mike) Hunter and (Chris) Henry dominated inside.”

Hunter grabbed six rebounds, Henry had five and both Lippincott and Hanlon had four.

Hunter was the second leading scorer in the game with 15 points. Mike Foster added 10 for Edison.

Fountain Valley had 11 points from Lewis Murdent and 10 from Tim Huke.

Fountain Valley went to a press with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, when Edison was able to get behind the press, Fountain Valley had to start fouling to save time on the clock.

But that strategy failed because Edison made 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter. Henry converted four in the final two minutes and Dirk Paul made all four of his points from the line in the last quarter.

Huke and Steve Grack tried to lead a two-man charge for Fountain Valley in the last quarter when Huke hit a three-pointer and three free throws and Grack scored on a layup, a three-pointer and two free throws in a three minute stretch.

In the Orange League:

Western 73, Valencia 57--Joey Romero scored 26 points, 12 in the first quarter, to lead Western at Savanna. The win secures a playoff spot for Western as the league’s No. 3 representative. Romero’s 12-point first quarter sparked Western as it outscored Valencia in the quarter, 19-8. Wayne Hurtado added 11 points for Western. Chris Bowen, Western center averaging 20.5 points a game, was held to five points.