Jackson Struggles and Serra Falls, 72-36 : Preps: The senior center scores only two points as the Cavaliers lose to Huntington Beach.

In its time of need, the Serra High boys’ basketball team looked to senior Akeli Jackson Thursday night against Huntington Beach.

But so did Huntington Beach, which double and triple-teamed the 6-foot-8 center in a 72-36 victory over the Cavaliers in quarterfinal game of the Tournament of Champions at Ocean View High.

Jackson, who has signed a letter of intent to attend Cal State Long Beach, was limited to two points and Serra was limited to three points in the fourth quarter.

Michael Boyd kept the Cavaliers in the game early, scoring seven of Serra’s first eight points and 14 of its first 20.

Boyd made three consecutive free throws after he was fouled on a three-point attempt to give Serra an 8-6 lead.

However, the Oilers went on a 12-0 run to take a 19-11 first-quarter lead. Boyd scored Serra’s first six points of the second quarter to help cut the deficit to 21-18.

Huntington Beach pulled away in the final five minutes of the second quarter to take a 31-21 halftime lead.

“They played good defense,” said Boyd, a 6-5 senior forward who made seven of eight free throws. “We came to play but they capitalized on our mistakes.

Huntington Beach will meet State Division I runner-up Mater Dei in a semifinal game tonight at 7.

Long Beach Poly 53, Inglewood 42--The Sentinels were held scoreless for a five-minute 14-second span of the second and third quarters and Poly opened a 40-27 lead in a championship quarterfinal game.

Givon Hester, who had 17 points in the Inglewood’s first-round victory over Morningside to snap the Monarchs’ 22-game winning streak on Monday, had a game-high 20 points.

Mike Turks added nine points on three three-point baskets for Inglewood (4-4), which will play Serra (4-4) in a fifth-place semifinal tonight at 5:30.

Inglewood trailed, 14-12, after the first quarter and fell behind by as many nine points in the second quarter.

Turks made a three-point basket to cut the deficit to 27-21 with 2:15 left before halftime, but Inglewood did not score again until Hester made two free throws with 4:01 left.

The Sentinels’ first field goal of the second half did not come until Hester made a layup a minute later. Hester, a 6-3 senior forward, scored all six of his team’s points in the third quarter.

Dion Holton and James Brown had 15 and 13 points for Poly (4-2), which plays Ocean View (4-1) in a semifinal game at 8:30 p.m.

Jason Crowe cut the deficit to 19-16 on a layup midway through the second quarter, but Al Curry helped spark a 6-0 run to help the Jackrabbits take a 28-21 halftime lead.

Curry made a 15-foot jump shot from the top of the key and a 17-foot baseline shot. Zerrick Campbell tipped in a missed shot with 2:41 left before halftime to increase the lead to 25-16.

Morningside 78, Murphy 36--The Monarchs (6-1) raced to a 41-15 halftime lead in a consolation game.

Stais Boseman had 14 points and 12 Morningside players scored in the victory.

Corey Saffold and Donminic Ellison added 12 and 11 points each for Morningside.