Boys’ Basketball Roundup : Huntington Beach Gets New Life, but Falls to Estancia

Huntington Beach High School came up with a miraculous rally at the end of regulation only to waste it in overtime Tuesday night in the first round of the La Quinta basketball tournament at La Quinta High School.

The Oilers tied the score with 4 points in the last 5 seconds only to lose to Estancia, 71-67, in overtime.

With Huntington Beach trailing, 65-61, the Oilers’ Steve Lucas was fouled with 5 seconds left. After making the first free throw to pull his team to within 3 points, Lucas intentionally missed the second. Teammate Joey Kijewski grabbed the rebound, dribbled to the 3-point line and sank a jump shot to tie the score.

However, Estancia got 4 free throws from Augustine Heredia in the overtime to clinch the victory.

Mike Curtis scored 30 points to lead Estancia. Heredia scored 18 points and Paul McDaniel added 11 for the Eagles.

Scott Drake scored 21 points, Andy Thompson 16 and Kijewski 12 for Huntington Beach.

In another first-round game:

El Modena 72, Cypress 69--John Darrow scored 22 points to lead El Modena. Jeff Leedom scored 18 and Robbie Pietsch 17 for the Vanguards. Mark Johnson scored 24 points and Mike Flowers 22 for Cypress.

In the El Dorado tournament:

Anaheim Canyon 59, Saugas Canyon 39--Brian Bailey scored 12 points and Tim Uyematsu 11 to lead the Comanches in a first-round game at El Dorado.

El Dorado 66, Whittier Christian 64--Travis Dowdell scored 21 points and Matt Luke 19 to lead the host Golden Hawks in a first-round game.

In the Express League:

Bethel Baptist 56, Claremont 47--Rene Cortez scored 25 points to lead Bethel Baptist at the Huntington Valley Boys’ Club in Huntington Beach. Rick Vogtmann scored 15 points for Claremont.

In nonleague games:

Fountain Valley 87, El Toro 76--Mike Merli scored 24 points to lead Fountain Valley (5-0) at home. Rob Johnson scored 24 points and Khari Johnson 19 for El Toro, which dropped to 3-4 with its third consecutive loss. El Toro hit 21 of 24 free throws while outscoring Fountain Valley, 32-27, in the fourth quarter.

Valencia 52, Troy 50--Mark Miller scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds and Rudy Lopez added 14 points to lead Valencia (2-2) at home. Troy (3-3) was led by Mike Abbot’s game-high 21 points.