SOUTHERN SECTION 5-A BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Ocean View Keeps Moving With Victory

Perhaps Jim Harris, Ocean View High School basketball coach, should have stuck with his original plans. Last summer, he scrapped a motion offense for a power inside game because the players disliked it.

That is, until they found out that they could win with it, which they did again Friday night with a 75-67 second-round Southern Section 5-A playoff victory over Etiwanda at Etiwanda.

Harris inserted the motion offense a month ago, and the Hawks won seven of their final eight Sunset League games.

“(The coaches) say we’re not even close to running it right yet,” senior Todd Norman said. “They say we are really going to win big when we do.”

The Hawks (19-9) executed the offense well enough to lead, 39-34, by halftime. And their patience paid even bigger dividends in the fourth quarter when they broke away to increase the lead to 16 points.

In contrast, the Eagles, who averaged 79.8 points a game this season, shot at will, but it didn’t do any good.

“Our game’s going to be push it down, and shoot it,” Etiwanda Coach Jess Evans said. “If you have to work too hard, then you better pass it.”

That philosophy backfired in the second half when the Eagles fell behind and forced shots trying to catch up.

“They came out firing,” Harris said. “That’s not our style, so it took us a little while to get used to it.

“In the second half, we played a steady man-to-man defense and were patient on offense and it showed.”

Ocean View controlled the tempo and took a 55-45 lead on Norman’s basket with 2:18 remaining in the third quarter. Norman finished with 20 points and 7 rebounds.

Tim Pelonis added six points and had 10 rebounds for the Hawks.

The Eagles were led by John Adams with 32 points, Michael Jackson with 26 and Marcus Bell with 25.