LA QUINTA TOURNAMENT : Huntington Beach Upends No. 1 Estancia at Buzzer

Despite getting credit for a point it didn’t score, No. 1-ranked Estancia High School lost, 52-51, to Huntington Beach at the buzzer in the championship game of the La Quinta Tournament.

Huntington Beach’s Andy Kijewski scored on a turnaround shot over Matt Fuerbringer, Estancia’s 6-foot-5 center, as time ran out.

It was Kijewski’s sixth and seventh points of the quarter, and his game-winning shot ended any chance that a scoring error would affect the outcome. One Estancia player was credited with three baskets in the first quarter, rather than two baskets and a free throw.

“I’ve got too many other things to worry about than an extra point for us,” Estancia Coach Tim O’Brien said. “Besides, if we would have won tonight, it would have been a lucky win. Huntington Beach was the better team tonight.” Estancia is 7-1.

Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller didn’t want to dwell on the scoring error, but rather the progress his team made in improving to 5-1.

“We took a giant step tonight by beating the No. 1 team in Orange County,” Miller said, “I thought we did a good job defensively in helping out in the post and recovering to jump out on their three-point shooters.”

Huntington Beach rattled the Eagles, who made only three of 14 three-point shots, and held standout center Fuerbringer to 12 points.

Estancia’s Mike Haas, who made two of nine three-pointers, finished with eight points. But he gave Estancia a 51-50 lead by hitting a three-pointer with 54 seconds remaining.

Huntington Beach’s Mustapha Abdi, who scored 15 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player, drew a disputed two-shot foul from Paul McDaniels with 21 seconds left, but he missed both attempts.

The Oilers got their chance to win after Estancia’s Jeff Hokanson was pressured into stepping on the sideline with 11 seconds remaining.

Torrance 71, Cypress 68--Torrance outscored Cypress, 20-8, in the fourth quarter to win the consolation game. Joe Zaletel led Torrance with 22 points. Adrian Gutierrez led Cypress with 19 points; Courtney Smalley and John Lin each added 15.

Katella 73, Foothill 64--Kevin Carlson scored 27 points and led Katella’s 22-10 outburst in the fourth quarter of the third-place game. Roger Arias also had 21 points for Katella (4-3). Sean Amos’ 22 points and Jared Winger 17 for Foothill (2-5).