PREP ROUNDUP : Huntington Beach Loses First Game, but Gonzalez Shines

Huntington Beach lost its first basketball game of the season in the first round of the Tournament of Champions Tuesday night at Ocean View High. But the Oilers might have found a standout player.

Westchester, the top-ranked team in the City Section, outscored Huntington Beach, 25-11, in the third quarter and went on to win, 71-55. It was the fourth consecutive victory for Westchester.

Huntington Beach (4-1) committed 28 turnovers, but at least one Oiler starter wasn’t intimidated by the team that is considered among the top five in the state.

Sophomore Tony Gonzalez, a muscular, 6-foot-4, 195-pound forward, led all scorers with 21 points and added 11 rebounds. Gonzalez missed only one shot and probably earned a spot in the starting lineup.

Huntington Beach played without returning starter Bryan Chang, who hurt his knee in the Pilot Tipoff Classic and probably will miss this week’s tournament. The Oilers missed Chang’s outside shooting but still managed to stay tied with Westchester, 36-36, early in the third quarter.

Westchester guard Lorenzo Ball broke the game open in the third quarter by making three consecutive three-point shots. Ball had 11 points in the quarter and finished with 18 points.

“We hung with them in the first half, but turnovers killed us, especially in the third quarter,” Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller said.

In other Tournament of Champions games:

Capistrano Valley 81, Bishop Amat 59--The score was tied, 40-40, when guard Tom Airey went on a three-point scoring spree. Airey hit four consecutive three-pointers as Capistrano Valley (4-1) outscored Bishop Amat, 41-19, down the stretch. Sophomore guard Jelani Gardner led Bishop Amat (2-2) with 26 points.

Lakewood 65, Estancia 48--Forward Matt Fuerbringer scored 26 points but received little support from his Eagle teammates. Fuerbringer, who had 19 points at halftime, made 11 of 20 shots, blocked two shots and had eight rebounds. Center Javon Rouzan had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Lakewood (4-1).

Tustin 41, Servite 36--Guard Derek Roche made seven free throws in the final three minutes of play to give the Tillers (3-2) the victory. Roche finished with a game-high 22 points.

In nonleague boys’ basketball:

Liberty Christian 102, Bloomington Christian 46--Toby Curto scored 41 points, 23 in the third quarter, for visiting Liberty Christian (3-2). Dave Kellams had 19 points for the Minutemen, who outscored Bloomington Christian 40-4 in the third quarter.

In nonleague girls’ basketball:

Marina 61, Mater Dei 36--Jessica Trippet scored 14 points and Martita Emde had 13 for host Marina (5-0). Dawn Gawronski had 10 points for the Monarchs (2-2).