DIVISION I-A : Huntington Beach Bounces Back at Last

At times, the Huntington Beach High basketball team showed all the characteristics of a team poised to be upset in the Southern Section Division I-A playoffs Tuesday night.

The third-seeded Oilers got off to a slow start, missed wide open shots, got in foul trouble, scored only nine points in the third quarter and its leading scorer was shut out for two quarters.

And they still won by 20.

Huntington Beach rebounded from all its problems with a nearly flawless fourth quarter to beat unseeded Moreno Valley Valley View, 72-52, in a second-round game at Huntington Beach.

The Oilers (26-3) extended their winning streak to 17 games, including nine in a row at home, and advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.

Huntington Beach will face Los Angeles Loyola, a 99-91 winner over Los Alamitos, Friday night. The Oilers haven’t reached the semifinals in Roy Miller’s 16 seasons as coach.

And they nearly got into some big-time trouble Tuesday night.

Huntington Beach held a 38-19 halftime lead, but let Valley View back in the game with a horrible third quarter.

The problems started when Oiler center Matt Ambrose picked up his fourth foul only one minute and 17 seconds into the quarter. With Ambrose on the bench, leading-scorer Tony Gonzalez was left alone inside to cover Valley View center Deven Ray.

Ray scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter. Gonzalez, who scored nine points in the first quarter, was scoreless in the second and third quarters.

“This was not a good game for us by any means,” Miller said. “At times, we fell apart. We had lulls in offense and lulls in defense.

“Part of our problem is that we weren’t hitting open shots. We were getting a good look at the bucket, but we weren’t making them.”

The Oilers scored only nine points in the quarter as Valley View cut the deficit to 47-35.

But Ambrose started the fourth quarter and the Oilers picked up the pace.

Chris Jones nailed a jumper and a three-pointer as the Oilers hit five of their first six shots in the quarter. Jones scored seven of his nine points in the quarter.

The Oilers made 10 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter by shooting well inside and outside.

Ambrose had four of his eight points in the quarter, and Gonzalez re-established himself offensively, adding seven of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Bryan Chang’s three-point play gave Huntington Beach its biggest lead, 70-46, with 1:43 left. Chang finished with 12 points.

Afterward, Miller wasn’t pleased so much as relieved.

“Tommy Walden hit some big shots for us,” Miller said. “And Chris Jones got hot and had seven in the fourth quarter.”

Huntington Beach got off to an awful start against Valley View (17-9). The Oilers missed their first six shots from the field and their first three free throws.