Sullivan Gives the Edge to Ocean View

Two of Orange County’s better teams, with two of the county’s better players, met for the Sunset League girls’ basketball title Thursday night at Marina High School, and Ocean View edged the Vikings, 53-51.

Ocean View, the county’s third-ranked team, and Jenny Sullivan, the Seahawks’ 6-foot-2 center, proved that bigger was indeed better in this game.

Though 5-foot-7 Melisa Sortino finished with a game-high 21 points for ninth-ranked Marina, Sullivan delivered down the stretch, scoring eight of her team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to spark a comeback.

Point guard Alli Takido clinched the victory by making both ends of a one-and-one with 27 seconds left to put Ocean View (24-2 overall, 9-1 in league play) ahead to stay, 52-51.

“I knew Alli was going to make those free throws,” Ocean View Coach Ollie Martin said. “That’s the way she’s been all year, and she put it right.”

Sortino and Marina (18-7, 7-3) outscored Ocean View, 24-10, in the second quarter to take a 36-27 lead at the half.

But late in the game, Sullivan blocked Sortino’s inside jumpers and Erna Foronda harassed Sortino when she looked to shoot outside.

“For the second half, I just told the girls to go at it full tilt on defense,” Martin said. “Foronda did a tremendous job denying Sortino’s drives to the hoop.”

Said Marina Coach Pete Bonny: “If we can play like this in the (Southern Section) playoffs, and this means we’re only two points worse than Ocean View, then that’s great.”